MASTER 
NEGATIVE 

NO.  94-821 06 


COPYRIGHT  STATEMENT 


The  copyright  law  of  the  United  States  (Title  17,  United  States  Code) 
governs  the  making  of  photocopies  or  other  reproductions  of  copyrighted 
materials  including  foreign  works  under  certain  conditions.  In  addition, 
the  United  States  extends  protection  to  foreign  works  by  means  of 
various  international  conventions,  bilateral  agreements,  and 
proclamations. 

Under  certain  conditions  specified  in  the  law,  libraries  and  archives  are 
authorized  to  furnish  a  photocopy  or  other  reproduction.  One  of  these 
specified  conditions  is  that  the  photocopy  or  reproduction  is  not  to  be 
"used  for  any  purpose  other  than  private  study,  scholarship,  or  research." 
If  a  user  makes  a  request  for,  or  ater  uses,  a  photocopy  or  reproduction 
for  purposes  in  excess  of  "fair  use,"  that  user  may  be  liable  for  copyright 
infringement. 

The  Columbia  University  Libraries  reserve  the  right  to  refuse  to  accept  a 
copying  order  if,  in  its  judgement,  fulfillment  of  the  order  would  involve 
violation  of  the  copyright  law. 


Author: 


Carlton,  Frank  Tracy 


Title : 


The  history  and  problems 
of  organized  labor 

Place: 

Boston 

Date: 

[1920] 


11-K;iio(,-\ 


MASTER   NEGATIVE  * 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 
PRESERVATION  DIVISION 

BIBLIOGRAPHIC  MICROFORM  TARGET 


ORIGINAL  MATERIAL  AS  FILMED  •    EXISTING  BIBLIOGRAPHIC  RECORD 


5:^B»((»M«. 


n;  ,:A 


C19 


Carlton,  Prank  Tracy,  1873- 

The  history  and  problems  of  organized  labor,  by  Frank 
Tracy  Carlton  ...  Rev.  Boston,  New  York  [etc.j  D.  C. 
Heath  &  company  f  1920j 

xi,  559  p.  20*-. 

"References  for  further  reading"  at  end  of  each  chapter. 


1.  Trade-unions — U.  S. 
Library  of  Congress 


Copy  2. 


Copyright    A  601614 


O 


HD6S08.C2    1920 
l5i 


20-21203 


J 


RESTRICTIONS  ON  USE: 


FILM  SIZE 


:     3^. 


t^f^ 


TECHNICAL  MICROFORM  DATA 


DATE  FILMED 


TRACKING  #  : 


REDUCTION  RATIO; 


nx 


IMAGE  PLACEMENT:  lA /HA)    IB     IIB 


INITIALS: 


VG-:KjJb 


FILMED  BY  PRESERVATION  RESOURCES.  BETHLEHEM.  PA. 


BIBLIOGRAPHIC  IRREGULARITIES 

MAIN  ENTRY:    Carlton.  Frank  Tracv 


The  history  and  problems  of  organized 


Bibliographic  Irregularities  in  the  Original  Document: 

List  all  volumes  and  pages  affected;  include  name  of  institution  if  filming  borrowed  text. 


.Page(s)  missing/not  available: 

yolume(s)  missing/not  available:. 


Illegible  and/or  damaged  page(s):__ 
.Page(s)  or  volume(s)  misnumbered 
Bound  out  of  sequence: 


)^ Page(s)  or  volume(s)  filmed  from  copy  borrowed  from:  Brown  Universitv 

pages  293-296 

Other: 


TRACKINGit:  MSH00334 


FILMED  IN  WHOLE 

OR  PART  FROM 
COPY  BORROWED 

FROM: 


BROWN 
UNIVERSITY 


00 
CJI 

3 
3 


Q) 

o  > 

qQ  a 


N  c/) 


en 
^-< 

OOM 

o 


in 

3 
3 


> 

o  m 
CD  CD 


i>o. 

CO 


X 

-< 

ISI 


.'^' 


a? 


^A 


C? 


> 


o 


.'^■ 


> 

Ul 


A^ 


<V^ 


8 

3 
3 


.<- 


& 


fcp 


^f<p 


fp 


¥a^ 


O 


ri^nnpi?!^,-!. 


II 


°  "^  m  lllllg 


c> 


00 


b 


k> 


ro 
In 


1.0  mm 


1.5  mm 


2.0  mm 


ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPORSTUVWXYZ 
abcdetghciklmnopqrstuvwxyz  1 234567890 


ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzl234567890 


ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 

1234567890 


** 


L^ 


^c. 


-i. 


f^ 


fcr 


m 

3D 

o 
o 

-o  m  "o 

3D^-L 

>  C  CO 

I  TJ  ^ 

^Ooo 

"CO     5 

m 

o 

m 


ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 
^  ^  abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 

2.5  mm  1234567890 


^ 


P. 


>-» 

M 

Ol 

O 

3 
3 

3 
3 

0) 

cr 

0) 

o- 

,;^0 

^s 

3  I 

3l 

IJKLMN 
nopqrst 

IJKLMN 
nopqrst 

*<  JO 

OPQR 
uvwxy 

Kc: 

IN   C/) 

^^ 

!:"-« 

Ol$ 

r^c 

o^x 

cop: 

->J-< 

cn< 

o 

<T>X 

OOM 


S 


*•> 


THE  LIBRARIES 


GRADUATE 

SCHOOL  OF  BUSINESS 

LIBRARY 


ti 


THE   HISTORY   AND    PROBLEMS 
OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 


) 


(> 


if 


I 


1' 


THE 


HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS 
OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 


BY 


FRANK  TRACY  CARLTON,  Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR   OF   ECONOMICS   IN 
DE   PAUW   UNIVERSITY 


REVISED 


N 


D.   C.   HEATH   &   COMPANY 

BOSTON  NEW   YORK  CHICAGO 


/ 


/ 


»      -h 


h   - 


1 


•'.I 


r^i 


S  9  ^  1 


2-  C.>^"''^, 


A 


Copyright,  1911  and  1930^ 
By  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 

2BX 


1G7 
Cl3 


^T 


I 


J 


PREFACE 


The  aim  of  this  volume  is  to  present  briefly  the  important 
facts  in  the  history  of  organized  labor  in  the  United  States, 
to  analyze  the  chief  problems  which  directly  or  indirectly 
f.ffect  the  labor  organizations  of  the  present  decade,  and  to 
t^valuate  the  functions  of  organized  laJbor  in  the  industrial 
and  political  world.  The  history  of  American  labor  organiza- 
tions presents  to  the  observer  a  rapidly  changing  and  almost 
bewildering  picture  of  which  few  careful  studies  have  been 
made.  The  government,  ideals,  practices,  soHdarity,  and 
inter-relationships  of  such  organizations  have  experienced, 
and  are  at  present  undergoing,  a  variety  of  transformations. 
It  is  the  purpose  of  the  writer  to  present  to  the  student  of 
industrial  problems  and  to  the  general  reader  a  straight- 
forward study  of  the  forces  which  have  caused  labor  l  ganiza- 
tions  to  appear  and  to  assume  a  variety  of  forms.  The  aim 
is  not  to  justify  or  to  condemn  the  practices  and  ideals  of 
organized  labor  or  of  employers'  associations,  but  to  analyze 
the  phenomena  of  which  the  practices  and  ideals  are  the 
visible  manifestations.  Labor  organizations,  employers'  asso- 
ciations, strikes,  boycotts,  the  demand  for  the  closed  shop, 
the  sweating  system,  and  the  ideals  and  point  of  view  of 
organized  labor  or  of  organized  capital  are  evolved  through 
the  play  of  social  forces  working  within  the  economic  field. 
The  modem  labor  problem  cannot  be  understood,  and  cer- 
tainly cannot  be  solved,  until  the  underiying  causative  forces, 
new  and  old,  physical  and  social,  are  laid  bare. 


p 


VI 


PREFACE 


References  are  placed  at  the  end  of  each  chapter  to  assist 
the  student  in  the  selection  of  material  for  collateral  reading. 

The  writer  wishes  to  acknowledge  his  indebtedness  to  his 
^vife  for  her  unfailing  sympathy  and  aid  in  the  preparation 
of  this  book. 

REVISED   EDITION 

The  ten-year  period,  1911-1920,  which  has  elapsed  since 
the  first  edition  appeared,  has  been  marked  by  significant 
changes  in  the  field  of  labor  problems  and  of  industrial  man- 
agement. Without  modifying  the  scope  of  the  volume,  the 
writer  has  aimed  to  bring  the  material  up  to  date. 

Frank  T.  Carlton. 

Greencastle,  Indiana,  June,  1920. 


}i 


t 


i/ 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  The  Significance  op  Organized  Labor i 

II.  Labor  in  the  Colonial  and  Revolutionary  Period 12  ^ 

III.  The  Pre-Civil  War  Period 22 

The  Development  of  the  Factory  System 22 

The  Rise  of  Industrial  Cities 28 

Labor  Organizations 31 

Labor  and  Humanitarianism 42 

The  Free  School  System  and  the  Wage  Earners 47 

Land  Reform  and  the  Wage  Earners 49  ^ 

IV.  The  Civil  War  Period,  1857-1872 32 

Industrial  Progress  during  the  War 53 

Industrial  ConsoUdation 55 

Wages  and  Prices : 56 

Labor  during  the  Civil  War  Period 57 

The  Knights  of  St.  Crispin 66 

V.  The  Period  of  National  Organization 69 

Recent  Industrial  Progress 69 

Organizations  of  Labor 71 

The  Knights  of  Labor 72 

The  American  Federation  of  Labor 75 

The  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World 82 

Women's  Trade  Unions 91 

Employers'  Associations 92 

VI.  Government  and  Policies  of  Labor  Organizations 103 

Classification  of  Labor  Organizations 103 

Government  and  Structure 109 

Admission  to  Membership 123 

Disputes  between  Unions 123 

The  Introduction  of  Machinery 126 

Collective  Bargaining 128 

•  • 

Vll 


II        I 


Vlll 


CONTENTS 


I  * 

il 


CHAPT£R  PAGE 

The  Closed  Shop  Policy 134 

Restriction  of  Output 140 

Hours  of  Labor 149 

Limitation  of  Apprentices 156 

Incorporation  of  Labor  Organizations 161 

Benefit  Features 162 

VII.  Coercive  Methods 169 

Strikes  and  Lockouts 169 

Causes  of  Strikes 171 

Violence  connected  with  Strikes  and  Lockouts 1 73 

Losses  due  to  Strikes  and  Lockouts 176 

New  Aspects  of  Strikes 177 

The  Boycott 180 

The  Attitude  of  the  Courts  toward  Strikes  and  Boycotts     ...  182 

The  Blacklist 194 

The  Union  Label 196 

Typical  Strikes 198 

VIII.  Industrial  Remuneration 209 

What  is  a  Fair  Wage? 209 

Methods  of  Remuneration 212 

Time  Wage 213 

Task  Wage :    .    .    .  215 

Piece  Wage 215 

Progressive  Wage  or  the  Premium  Plan 216 

The  Bonus 220 

Profit  Sharing 220 

Product  Sharing 221 

Methods 222 

Advantages  of  Profit  Sharing 223 

Objections  to  the  System 224 

Conclusion 227 

Welfare  Work 228 

Cooperation 229 

Consumers'  Cooperation  in  England 230 

Consumers'  Cooperation  in  the  United  States 232 

Distributors'  Cooperation 235 

Credit  Cooperation 236 

Building  and  Loan  Associations 238 

Producers'  Cooperation 239 

Conclusion 243 

IX.  Scientific  Management,  Old  ant>  New 247 


CONTENTS 


IX 


I 


1} 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

X.  Methods  of  Promoting  Industrial  Peace     276 

Definitions 280 

Conciliation  and  Arbitration  in  the  United  States 281 

Federal  Commissions  on  Industrial  Relations 287 

Advantages  and  Defects  of  Arbitration  and  Conciliation  ....  294 

Trade  Agreements 300 

Trade  Agreements  wiih  Organized  Labor 303 

Joint  Conferences  as  Parliamentary  Bodies 316 

The  Canadian  Industrial  Disputes  Act 316 

The  Experience  of  New  Zealand  and  Australia 320 

XI.  Protective  Legislation  for  Employees 329 

Constitutional  DiflSculties  in  the  United  States 329 

What  is  Liberty? 333 

Trend  of  Court  Decisions.  .    .        335 

History  of  Labor  Legislation 340 

The  Chief  Forms  of  Labor  Legislation 344 

Present  Status  of  Labor  Legislation .  347 

Employers'  Liability 360 

Workingmen's  Compensation  Acts 366 

Health  Insurance  in  the  United  States 374 

Old  Age  Insurance  and  Pensions 376 

Pension  System  of  the  International  Typographical  Union  .    .   .  383 

The  Massachusetts  Old  Age  Annuity  System 383 

The  American  .Association  for  Labor  Legislation 384 

Xn.   Immigration 387 

History 387 

Causes 390 

Changes  in  the  Nationality  of  Immigrants 393 

Early  Opposition  to  Immigration 395 

Immigration  Problems 399 

1.  Economic 399 

2.  Political 411 

3.  Racial 413 

4.  The  Sentimental  Argument 416 

Legislation 418 

Oriental  Immigration 419 

Conclusion 423 

XIII.  The  Sweated  Industries 426 

Sweating  in  the  Clothing  Industry      429 

Wages  in  the  Sweated  Industries 431 

The  Sweat-Shop  and  the  Consumer     432 


II 


I 


I 


I 


X  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PA^^ 

Legislation 433 

Remedies 435 

1.  Legislation 435 

2.  Trade  Unionism 442 

3.  Education 442 

4.  Systematization  of  Industry 44+ 

Sweating  in  the  Factory 446 

XIV.   Child  Labor 449 

Child  Labor  before  the  Civil  War 45° 

Child  Labor  during  Recent  Decades 455 

Early  Legislation  in  England 457 

Legislation  in  the  United  States 459 

National  Regulation 464 

The  National  Child  Labor  Committee 468 

Viewpoints 4^8 

Opposition  to  the  Prohibition  of  Child  Labor 473 

XV.   Woman  Labor 47^ 

Woman  Labor  before  the  Civil  War 478 

Women  Wage  Earners  and  the  Wages  of  Women 479 

Reasons  for  the  Low  Wages  of  Women  Workers 485 

Obstacles  to  Organization • 487 

Working  Women  and  the  Home 489 

Education  of  Women 49^ 

Domestic  Service 49^ 

XVL  Prison  Labor •   •  495 

Systems  of  Prison  Labor 495 

Should  the  Convict  be  a  Producer? 499 

Conclusions 5°° 

Recent  Progress 5°° 

XVIL  Unemployment 502 

Causes  of  Unemployment 5^3 

Statistics  of  Unemployment  and  of  Irregularity  of  Employ- 
ment    507 

How  may  Unemployment  be  Reduced? 510 

The  Right  to  a  Job 5^9 

Unemployment  Insurance 520 

XVIII.  Industrial  and  Trade  Education 524 

The  Training  of  Apprentices 524 


k 


CONTENTS  ::i 

chai>ter  ^^^^ 

Vocational  Education 5^8 

Industrial  Education 53^ 

Corres{)ondence  and  Night  Schools 53 1 

The  Conflict  of  Ideals  in  regard  to  Industrial  Education  ...  533 

XIX.   Recent  Tendencies 53^ 

The  Significance  of  Industrial  Unionism 53^ 

Political  Activity 543 

Socialistic  Tendencies 549 

Other  Tendencies 552 

Index •    •  555 


If! 


li! 


k 


\ 


THE    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS 
OF   ORGANIZED   LABOR 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

For  indefinite  centuries  men  have  been  seeking  for  the  solution 
of  various  problems  relating  to  the  toilers.  Students  of  ancient 
history  have  disclosed  the  struggles  of  the  plebeian  or  slave  class 
against  the  patrician  or  ruling  class,  centuries  before  the  Chris- 
tian era.  The  labor  problem  is  a  problem  of  all  nations,  all 
peoples,  and  all  centuries.  The  factors  change  but  the  problem 
remains.  History  is  really  a  story  of  the  struggle  of  the  masses 
upward;  true  history  is  a  chronicle  of  the  relations  of  man  to 
man  in  the  struggle  for  existence  and  the  subdual  of  natural 
forces.  Migrations,  wars,  changes  of  dynasties,  new  social  and 
political  alignments  are  but  the  outward  and  visible  signs  of 
adjustments  of  man  to  his  physical  and  social  environment.  Our 
labor  problems,  past  and  present,  are  the  growing  pains  of  soci- 
ety. Social  adaptation  does  not  move  smoothly  in  well  lubri- 
cated grooves.  Friction  is  very  apparent  in  the  form  of  social 
inertia,  custom,  laws,  and  class  interests.  Slavery  and  serfdom 
have  disappeared;  but  traces  of  those  older  forms  still  remain. 
The  arrogance  of  employers  and  of  the  wealthy  is  but  the 
survival  of  what  was  a  much  lauded  virtue  in  the  feudal  and 
military  age.  The  docility  and  unquestioning  obedience  so  fre- 
quently expected  of  workers  are  the  old  virtues  of  the  slave  and 
serf  clothed  in  the  costimie  of  a  nominally  free  worker. 


2      HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

In  the  last  century  and  a  fraction  enormous  industrial  changes 
have  taken  place.  As  a  direct  consequence  problems  have 
arisen  which  were  utteriy  unknown  and  unimagined  a  few  gen- 
erations ago.  The  problems  which  we  are  to  study  have  devel- 
oped out  of  the  changes  which  have  followed  what  is  commonly 
called  the  "Industrial  Revolution."  This  industrial  revolution 
is  not  the  only  one  in  the  world's  history.  The  use  of  bronze  or 
iron  tools,  for  example,  precipitated  an  industrial  revolution. 
The  development  of  agriculture  constituted  another  such  revo- 
lution. In  the  eighteenth  century  the  invention  of  the  steam 
engine  marked  the  opening  of  a  rapid  and  important  transfor- 
mation in  social,  political,  and  industrial  affairs.  More  recently 
the  steel  rail,  the  I-beam,  the  copper  wire,  and  the  daily  paper 
have  been  ''blind revolutionists,"  and  have  shared  in  ushering  in 
a  new  social  and  industrial  era.  In  order  to  settle  the  disturbed 
human  caldron  a  new  alignment  of  individuals  and  associations 
of  individuals  is  necessary.  Organizadons  of  wage  earners  are 
instrumentalities  which  have  arisen  out  of  the  complexity  and 
confusion  incidental  to  the  industrial  changes  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  The  study  of  the  problems  relating  to  labor  and 
labor  organizations  should  be  prunarily  a  study  of  causes;  it 
may  logically  be  called  a  branch  of  social  physics.  Labor 
unions,  employers'  associations,  strikes,  boycotts,  the  demand 
for  the  closed  shop,  and  the  ideals  and  the  point  of  view  of 
the  unionists  are  evolved  through  the  play  of  forces  working 
within  the  economic  field.  These  problems  and  the  tendencies 
in  the  near  future  cannot  be  intelligently  studied,  and  the  prob- 
lems certainly  cannot  be  solved,  until  the  underlying  causative 
forces,  new  and  old,  physical  and  social,  are  laid  bare. 

A  labor  organization  may  be  defined  as  "a  continuous  asso- 
ciation of  wage  earners  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  or  improv- 
ing the  conditions  of  their  employment."  Since  slaves  and  serfs 
are  not  wage  earners  all  associations  of  these  working  classes  are 
not  to  be  included  in  a  study  of  labor  organizations.    Whether 


THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR  3 

the  various  associations  and  gilds  of  the  medieval  cities  were 
the  prototypes  of  the  modem  labor  organizations  need  not  be 
here  discussed.  It  is  beyond  controversy  that  the  conditions 
which  have  developed  the  labor  organization  of  the  last  of  the 
nineteenth  and  the  first  of  the  twentieth  century  are  very  dis- 
similar from  those  which  produced  the  gild  system,  and  that 
the  form  of  organization  adopted  and  the  methods  used  are 
also  quite  dissimilar.  Again,  the  ideals  and  methods  of  organ- 
ized labor  change  with  industrial  modifications,  and  also  vary 
from  trade  to  trade,  or  industry  to  industry.  Remembering 
the  variability  and  mutability  of  unionism,  a  search  may  be 
made  for  the  essential  institutions  or  social  forces  which  have 
welded  wage  earners  into  the  stable  and  aggressive  unions  of 
today.  Reduced  to  the  simplest  terms,  these  are  two  in 
number:  (i)  the  separation  of  the  workers  from  the  means  of 
proauction,  and  (2)  the  extraordinary  increase  in  the  powers 
of  production  due  to  the  use  of  natural  forces  and  machinery. 

As  long  as  the  workers  owned  the  tools  with  which  they 
worked,  or  owned  both  the  tools  and  the  products  of  their  labor, 
the  worker  was  not  a  wage  earner.  Before  the  modern  trade 
union  could  arise  the  cleavage  between  employer  and  employee, 
between  capitalist  and  wage  earner,  must  become  quite  distinct. 
The  rise  of  unionism  is  coincident  with  a  horizontal  cleavage 
within  what  had  been  one  industrial  class.  With  the  growth 
of  the  factory  system  the  cost  of  the  tools  and  machinery  and 
of  the  workshop  increased;  and,  consequently,  the  line  of  de- 
marcation between  employer  and  employed  grew  more  distinct. 
Unions  appeared  before  the  factory  became  an  important  in- 
dustrial factor;  but  the  factory  is  primarily  responsible  for  the 
widespread  and  coherent  form  of  modern  labor  organizations. 
The  increasing  use  of  machinery  and  of  natural  forces  in  manu- 
facturing and  in  transportation  multiplied  the  amount  of  capi- 
tal necessary  to  efficiently  carry  on  any  industrial  enterprise. 
This  circumstance  still  further  widened  the  breach  between  the 


M< 


-4 


*i' 


#*i 


4      HISTORY  AND    PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

employer  and  his  employee,  and  reduced  the  capillarity  of  the 
wage-earning  class.  Meanwhile  the  limits  of  the  market  area 
were  being  rapidly  pushed  further  and  further;  and  people 
were  becoming  interdependent.  Unionism,  at  first  purely  local 
and  intra-trade,  has  become  national  and  international  and 
inter-trade.  But  the  central  strand  in  this  intricate  web  of 
cause  and  effect  is  the  transformation  of  the  worker  into  a  mere 
purveyor  of  labor  power. 

Preceding  the  nineteenth  century  and  the  use  of  natural 
power  and  machinery,  leisure  and  comfort  were  considered  to 
be  the  birthright  of  only  a  few.  Hard  and  ahnost  continuous 
toil  on  the  part  of  the  multitude  was  necessary  to  eke  out  an 
existence.  With  the  enormous  increase  in  the  productive 
capacity  of  the  world  has  come  the  possibility  of  a  shorter 
working  day  and  of  a  rising  standard  of  living  for  the  mass  of 
toilers.  Modern  unionism  has  for  its  direct  aim  the  betterment 
of  working  conditions;  and  such  bettemient  has  been  made  pos- 
sible through  the  technical  advances  consummated  during  recent 
generations.  The  first  unions  were  exclusive  and  monopolis- 
tic; they  aimed  to  raise  a  few  workers  in  a  given  trade.  The 
present  tendency  is  toward  more  inclusive  organization,  in  order 
to  secure  for  labor  as  a  class  a  portion  of  the  benefits  of  indus- 
trial progress.  No  wide-spread  and  inclusive  labor  organiza- 
tion could  exist  until  the  long  era  of  scarcity  was  succeeded  by 
one  in  which  a  sufficiency  is  possible  for  all.  Labor  organiza- 
tions do  not  become  important  factors  in  the  community  until 
after  the  problems  centering  around  the  distribution  of  wealth, 
rather  than  around  the  production  of  wealth,  become  of  fore- 
most importance.  In  a  democracy,  modern  labor  unions  may 
utilize  two  forms  of  activity  in  order  to  accomplish  their  pur- 
poses,—  purely  economic  and  political.  Up  to  the  present 
time,  the  chief  reliance  of  the  unionists  has  been  placed  upon 
the  purely  economic  activities. 

With  the  exception  of  a  few  organizations  committed  to  the 


X 


* 


THE   SIGNIFICANCE  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR  5 

doctrine  of  socialism,  organized  labor  accepts  the  present  in- 
dustrial order.  It  assumes  that  the  employer-capitalist  is  a 
necessary  factor  in  production.  The  value  of  the  product  of  a 
given  establishment  may  be  divided  into  different  funds,  — 
wages,  rent,  interest,  profits,  replacement.  The  labor  organi- 
zation is  formed  to  increase  as  much  as  possible  the  fraction  of 
the  total  which  goes  to  the  laborer  in  the  form  of  wages.  The 
wage  earners  assume  that  wages  are  not  definitely  fixed  in  an 
automatic  way;  they  are  convinced  that  through  associated 
effort  wages  may  be  increased.  At  the  outset,  it  is  fitting  that 
brief  consideration  should  be  given  to  the  limits  of  this  *' debat- 
able ground."  How  high  may  wages  permanently  rise,  and  how 
low  may  wages  permanently  fall?  The  maximum  amount 
which  an  employer  can  afford  to  pay  an  employee  is  the  equiva- 
lent of  the  increased  producti\aty  of  the  plant  because  of  the 
employee's  efforts.  But  the  productivity  of  the  employee 
depends  not  merely  upon  his  skill  and  efi&ciency  but  also  upon 
the  manner  in  which  his  labor  is  directed  and  correlated  with 
that  of  others.  The  upper  limit  may  also  be  raised  by  using 
improved  machinery,  by  utilizing  by-products  and  eliminating 
wastes,  and  by  securing  law  and  order  and  the  safety  of  in- 
vestments. Unwise  action  on  the  part  of  labor  orgam'zations 
may  tend  to  lower  the  upper  limit.  Frequent  resort  to  strikes, 
undue  restriction  of  output,  successful  resistance  to  the  intro- 
duction of  machinery  or  new  processes  of  performing  work,  and 
opposition  to  the  training  of  apprentices  will  sooner  or  later 
lower  the  upper  wage  limit  or  retard  its  upward  movement. 
The  lower  wage  limit  is  the  absolute  minimum  necessary  to 
prevent  the  physical,  mental,  and  moral  deterioration  of  the 
workers.  Ordinarily,  the  actual  minimum  varies  with  different 
classes  of  work.  It  depends,  as  a  rule,  upon  the  standard  of 
living  required  of  the  particular  trade  at  that  particular  time 
and  in  that  particular  locality.  The  skilled  worker  usually  has 
a  higher  standard  of  living  than  the  unskilled  laborer;  and  the 


li 


m 


111 


6      HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

lower  wage  limit  of  the  latter  is  lower  than  in  the  case  of  the 
former. 

Within  these  two  limits  the  actual  wage  received  will  be 
fixed.  The  exact  rate  depends  upon  a  variety  of  circumstances, 
such  as  the  bargaining  ability  of  the  workers  and  the  monopoly 
power  of  the  employer.  The  bargaining  power  of  the  isolated 
worker  is  very  slight.  His  knowledge  of  the  labor  market  and 
of  the  urgency  of  the  need  of  the  employer  is  slight;  and  his  own 
need  of  employment  is  frequently  urgent.  Again,  the  manual 
worker  is  by  reason  of  his  occupation  inexperienced  in  bar- 
gaining. The  individual  bargain  is  usually  indefinite  and 
unstandardized.  Collective  bargaining,  or  the  bargaining  of 
employees  as  a  group,  removes  many  of  the  disadvantages 
which  militate  against  the  isolated  individual  wage  earner,  and 
it  tends  to  standardize  the  conditions  of  emplo>Tnent,  —  hours, 
speed,  time,  and  methods  of  payment  and  the  like.  Through 
strong  unions  and  well  organized  systems  of  collective  bargain- 
ing wages  may  be  increased;  but  it  is  not  within  the  power  of 
wage  workers  using  the  purely  economic  methods  of  unionism 
to  eliminate  differential  rents  and  many  forms  of  monopoly 
gains.  ^ 

Real  wages  in  the  accepted  technical  sense  mean  the  sum 
total  of  the  necessities,  comforts,  and  luxuries  purchased  with 
the  money  received  as  wages  by  the  wage  earner.  This  defini- 
tion is  too  narrow.  In  a  broader  sense,  real  wages  include  not 
only  the  goods  and  services  secured  with  money  wages,  but  also 
the  services  rendered  the  individual  by  the  community.  Gov- 
ernment ownership  of  quasi-public  business  and  the  taxation 
of  monopoly  profits  and  differential  rents  may  reduce  the  costs 
of  certain  services  and  increase  the  sum  total  of  the  services 
rendered  by  the  community  to  its  members.  ^ 

*  Webb,  Industrial  Democracy.    Part  3,  Chapter  2. 

*  See  article  by  the  writer,  "The  Influence  of  the  Tariff  and  Monopoly  upon 
the  Increasing  Cost  of  Living,"  Prgceedings  oj  the  Michigan  Academy  oj  Science. 
Z910. 


\ 


THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR  7 

The  political  activities  of  labor  organizations  may  have  a 
double  purpose,  (i)  Legislation  may  be  secured  which  will 
remove  all  hindrances  to  the  bargaining  activities  of  labor 
organizations  and  improve  the  working  conditions  in  factories 
and  workshops.  This  is  the  ordinary  form  of  labor  legisla- 
tion. (2)  Organized  labor  may  demand  laws  which  will  divert 
monopoly  profits  and  growing  differential  gains  into  the  public 
treasury;  and  insist  that  this  added  revenue  be  so  utilized  as 
to  increase  the  services  of  the  conmiunity  to  its  members. 

The  significance,  the  benefits,  and  the  evil  features  of  organized 
labor  cannot  be  adequately  apprehended  by  the  student  unless 
it  is  clearly  seen  that  the  cleavage  in  the  industrial  class  which 
has  led  to  the  emergence  of  an  employing  or  capitalist  class 
and  of  an  employed  or  wage-earning  class,  and  to  the  develop- 
ment of  modern  labor  organizations,  has  likewise  produced  view- 
p)oints  which  are  diametrically  opposed  to  each  other,  and  which 
cannot  be  logically  reconciled  unless  the  working  and  social 
environments  of  the  men  holding  these  contradictory  views  are 
taken  into  consideration.  Employees  speak  bitterly  of  prac- 
tices which  employers  declare  are  essential  to  the  efficiency 
of  their  establishments  and  to  the  maintenance  of  their 
rights  as  property  owners.  On  the  other  hand,  employers 
denounce  the  workers  for  practices  which  the  latter  assert  are 
necessary  to  prevent  the  degradation  of  the  wage-earning  class. 
At  least  two  reasons  may  be  given  for  this  situation.  The  first 
is  the  more  evident  and  better  known.  The  employer  is  pri- 
marily interested  in  increasing  profits  and  dividends,  in  making 
the  business  pay.  He  is  anxious  to  increase  the  output  of  his 
workers  but  not  to  increase  their  wages;  in  short,  the  employer 
is  interested  in  diminishing  the  labor  cost  of  his  product.  The 
employee,  on  the  other  hand,  is  dependent  upon  his  wages.  He 
knows  in  a  more  or  less  definite  manner  that  large  profits  are 
frequently  obtained  by  employers;  he  learns  of  watered  stock 
and  financial  melons;  he  feels  the  insistent  prod  of  the  foreman, 


>  \ 


J'  ■ 


lii 


II . 


■i    . 


) 


8     HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

or  experiences  a  cut  in  piece  rates;  he  sees  men  overdriven  fall 
prematurely  from  the  ranks;  and  he  feels  that  his  employer  is 
interested  in  getting  as  much  out  of  him  as  possible  for  as  small 
a  wage  as  possible.  The  economic  motives  of  the  employers 
and  the  employees  seem  so  divergent  that  inevitably  their  atti- 
tude upon  matters  relating  to  the  relations  of  labor  to  capital 
are  colored  and  biased. 

The  second  and  more  subtle  cause  of  the  divergent  viewpoints 
is  the  result  of  very  different  working  environments  and  daily 
experiences.  The  worker  is  constantly  in  touch  with  concrete 
material  and  physical  forces;  he  has  little  contact  with  the 
immaterial  elements  in  society  such  as  legal  postulates,  property 
rights,  fluctuation  in  market  values  or  the  importance  of  mana- 
gerial ability.  "Everything  to  the  worker,  even  to  his  own 
activity,  is  the  outcome  of  physical  force,  undirected  and 
unchecked  by  the  spiritual  element. "  The  employer  moves  in 
an  entirely  different  realm.  He  is  not  directly  and  personally 
concerned  with  the  physical  processes  of  the  factory  or  of  the 
mine.  The  employer  lives  in  an  environment  which  accepts  as 
axiomatic  the  supremacy  of  property  rights,  the  desirability  of 
legal  regulations,  and  the  supreme  importance  of  mental  ability 
and  the  "value  sense."  Since  an  individual  comprehends  only 
that  which  he  has  experienced,  or  which  is  at  least  analogous  to 
it,  the  environment  and  the  experience  of  the  two  classes  lead 
inevitably  to  the  development  of  individuals  possessed  of  diver- 
gent prejudices,  habits,  ideals,  and  modes  of  thinking.  Because 
of  widely  different  life  experiences,  intelligent  and  sincere  men 
will  insistently  adhere  to  widely  different,  but  to  each  self- 
evident,  propositions  respecting  the  same  subject. 

As  an  example,  consider  the  interpretation  of  the  famous 
phrase,  "Labor  is  entitled  to  all  that  it  produces."  The 
socialist  and  the  conservative  employer  may  both  agree  that 
labor  is  entitled  to  what  it  produces;  but  they  will  disagree  upon 
the  interpretation  of  the  common  word,  —  produce.    To  the 


THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR  9 

wage  earner,  production  is  chiefly  a  process  involving  manual 
labor  and  physical  force.  To  the  employing  capitalist  the  most 
important  factors  are  managerial  ability  and  business  foresight. 
This  phase  of  middle-class  thought  frequently  appears  in  our 
language.  A  man  who  merely  furnishes  the  necessary  funds  for 
the  construction  of  a  dwelling  house  is  often  said  to  be  "  building 
a  house."  The  worker  whose  sole  business  experience  is  re- 
stricted to  the  act  of  receiving  his  pay  envelope  every  two  or 
four  weeks  and  turning  its  contents  over  to  the  butcher,  the 
grocer,  the  landlord,  and  others,  cannot  be  expected  to  possess 
as  high  regard  for  the  inviolability  of  a  contract  as  the  business 
man  whose  success  depends  upon  the  general  recognition  of  the 
sacredness  of  contract  and  of  property  rights.  And  it  is  not 
logical  to  assert  that  one  is  more  highly  intelligent  or  moral 
merely  because  of  these  divergent  viewpoints,  which  are  the 
results  of  "natural  and  general  causation."  These  points  are 
not  merely  more  or  less  interesting  and  spectacular  matters; 
they  are  pregnant  with  considerations  which  ought  not  to  be 
overlooked  by  any  student  of  labor  problems.  Let  the  reformer, 
statesman,  philanthropist,  capitalist,  and  labor  leader  take  notice 
that  "if  you  wish  to  change  the  laborer's  [or  the  employer's] 
viewpoint  materially,  you  cannot  do  it  by  warfare  or  denuncia- 
tion. You  must  begin  back  of  the  man  upon  the  determining 
influences  which  play  upon  him"  ^ 

Many  students  of  the  present  are  pointing  to  the  dangers 
of  increasing  class  antagonisms,  the  concentration  of  wealth, 
ostentatious  display  and  luxurious  waste,  as  forces  gradually 
undermining  American  democracy.  But  the  growing  wage- 
earning  class  is  being  trained  in  a  practical  school  of  democracy. 
The  work  of  labor  organizations  to  improve  the  economic  status 
of  their  members  aids  in  conserving  and  in  spreading  the  funda- 
mental ideals  of  equality  and  of  general  participation  in  govem- 

>  Hoxie,  "The  Trade-Union  Point  of  View,"  Journal  of  Political  Economy. 
Yol.  15:  350.     See  also  Veblen,  The  Theory  of  Business  Enterprise. 


.:;  I 


if  •■ 


lO    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

ment.  The  training  received  in  labor  unions  and  in  farmers* 
organizations  improves  the  political  acumen  and  the  sense  of 
responsibility  in  the  mass  of  the  common  people.  If,  as  some 
students  of  American  life  believe,  ''the  American  people  as  a 
whole  is  forgetting  how  to  be  democratic,  the  wage-earning  part 
of  the  people  is  learning  by  persistent  experiment  how  to  be 
more  and  more  democratic  in  the  day  by  day  work  of  organizing 
and  carrying  forward  the  labor  movement . "  *  Organized  labor 
may  be  considered  to  be  an  important  conservator  of  modern 
democracy.  The  shop  committee  system  whether  a  union  is 
or  is  not  recognized,  is  an  important  step  toward  industrial 
democracy.  And,  since  the  working  day  comprises  such  an 
important  fraction  of  the  waking  time  of  the  worker,  it  is  not 
unreasonable  to  assume  that  the  political  democracy  of  the 
non-working  hours  can  hardly  be  of  great  worth  until  the 
worker  has  some  voice  in  determining  his  working  conditions. 
If  the  average  worker  is  unfit  or  incompetent  in  deciding 
matters  relating  to  shop  policies,  surely  he  is  incompetent  to 
have  a  voice  in  determining  the  foreign  policy  of  the  American 
nation  or  in  deciding  matters  relating  to  affairs  within  the 
nation.  Democracy  in  working  hours  would  be  a  fine  prepa- 
ration for  democracy  in  leisure  hours,  that  is,  for  political 
democracy.  Is  it  not  logical  to  connect  many  of  the  failures 
and  disappointments  of  political  democracy  with  the  utter 
lack,  until  very  recently,  of  any  approach  toward  industrial 
democracy? 

While  stressing  the  conflicting  points  of  view,  the  fact  that 
labor,  organized  or  unorganized,  capital  and  management 
have  certain  common  interests,  should  not  be  overlooked. 
The  antagonisms  between  these  factors  in  production  have 
been  accentuated  by  bad  management,  by  failure  to  recognize 
the  fundamentals  in  production,  and  because  of  a  failure  to 
take  adequate  account  of  the  human  side  of  industry.    With- 

*  Editorial,  The  Independent.    July  7,  1910,  p.  44. 


THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR  11 

out  labor  capital  is  useless,  and  without  capital  labor  is  hope- 
lessly handicapped.  Industrial  progress  in  the  future  can 
be  anticipated  only  when  workers  become  interested  in  their 
work,  have  some  part  in  managing  the  business  of  which  they 
are  essential  parts,  and  are  supplied  with  sufficient  capital 
under  competent  management.  Whether  labor  and  capital 
are  considered  as  partners  or  in  the  relation  of  seller  to  buyer, 
one  cannot  prosper  without  the  other.  May  it  not  also  be 
possible  for  labor,  capital,  and  management  to  find  conmion 
ground  in  opposing  special  privilege  which  locks  out  of  use 
land,  natural  resources,  and  patents? 

The  existing  industrial  order  must  prove  its  right  to  con- 
tinued life  by  efficiency  in  the  production  of  the  necessities 
and  comforts  of  life  for  the  great  drab  mass  of  working  human 
beings  instead  of  the  mere  piling  up  of  profits.  Business, 
if  it  is  to  avoid  the  stern  danger  of  Bolshevism  and  the  violent 
laying  on  of  hands,  must  be  carried  on  in  the  future  with  the 
principle  of  social  service  or  of  mutual  benefit  placed  in  the 
foreground;  and  organized  labor,  unless  it  is  to  face  deter- 
mined opposition,  must  be  ready  to  come  halfway  by  elimi- 
nating many  of  its  restrictive  practices. 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

Adams  and  Sumner,  Labor  Problems.     Ch.  i,  and  Sec.  7,  Ch.  7. 

Webb,  History  of  Trade  Unionism.     Ch.  i. 

Webb,  Industrial  Democracy,    Part  III,  Ch.  2. 

Veblen,  The  Theory  of  Business  Enterprise.     Chs.  2,3,  and  9. 

Carlton,  The  Industrial  Situation.     Ch.  7,  Sec.  7. 

Hoxie,  Trade  Unionism  in  the  United  States. 

Marot,  American  Labor  Unions.     Ch.  i. 

Commons,  Industrial  Goodwill. 

Basset,  When  the  Workers  Help  You  Manage. 

Weeks,  "The  Mind  of  the  Citizen,"  American  Journal  of  Sociology. 
Vol.  21,  pp.  641-650. 

Carlton,  "Essentials  in  the  Study  of  Labor  Organizations,"  Scientific 
Monthly  J  August,  19 16. 


Hi 


CHAPTER  II 

LABOR  IN  THE  COLONIAL  AND  REVOLUTIONARY  PERIOD 

The  history  of  America  unfolds  as  a  rapidly  moving  pano- 
rama the  evolution  and  decline  of  social  and  industrial  systems 
similar  to  those  which  have  been  more  slowly  and  obscurely 
unrolled  in  the  other  portions  of  the  globe.  The  movement  of 
population  from  a  relatively  densely  populated  territory  to  a 
new  country  possessing  a  rich  and  virgin  soil  invariably  causes 
the  settlers  to  retrogress  in  the  social  and  industrial  scale.  The 
clock  of  progress  is  temporarily  turned  backward.  Necessity 
forces  the  newcomers  to  adopt  customs  and  methods  of  living 
and  of  gaining  a  livelihood  which  their  ancestors  had  discarded. 
Many  old  and  forgotten  social  and  industrial  difficulties  and 
problems  reappear  when  a  new  country  is  being  populated  and 
exploited.  As  the  American  pioneers  possessed  the  knowledge 
and  experience  of  the  centuries  which  had  passed  since  Euro- 
peans outgrew  primitive  barbarism,  the  march  of  institutions 
in  the  New  World  did  not  follow  with  exactitude  the  course  of 
development  disclosed  in  European  history.  New  elements 
were  introduced  into  the  problem;  the  balance  of  social  forces 
was  different.  When  the  movement  of  settlers  to  America 
began,  Europe  had  for  centuries  abandoned  the  system  of 
enslaving  white  men  and  women,  and  was  passing  out  of  feudal- 
ism. England,  the  most  advanced  nation  of  Europe,  had  prac- 
tically emerged  from  the  feudal  period.  Englishmen  and  other 
Europeans  upon  coming  to  America  were  confronted  by  a  new 
and  peculiar  situation.  Land  was  abundant  and  labor  was 
scarce;  but  the  land  could  not  be  exploited  and  large  profits 
derived  without  laborers  who  worked  for  small  returns.    Free 

13 


IN  THE  COLONIAL  AND  REVOLUTIONARY  PERIOD     13 


and  uncoerced  laborers  would  demand  high  wages,  or  they  would 
become  independent  laborers  upon  the  land.  The  demaud  for 
controllable  manual  workers  to  do  the  rough  and  hard  work  of 
the  pioneer  agriculturalist  soon  became  insistent.  Old  methods 
of  controlling  and  exploiting  laborers  were  readopted  with  alac- 
rity. The  indentured  servant  was  the  nearest  approach  to 
slavery  for  whites  which  the  moral  ideals  of  the  period  and  the 
legal  rights  vouchsafed  white  workers  permitted.  But  in  the 
case  of  the  black  and  the  red  man,  the  pressure  of  the  demand 
for  workers  overcame  all  difficulties;  and  on  the  new  continent 
slavery  was  reintroduced  among  European  people.  The  per- 
sonal characteristics  of  the  Indian  prevented  any  extensive  use 
of  the  red  man  as  a  slave;  but  the  negro  proved  to  be  docile  and 
workable.  After  slavery  was  established,  one  great  factor  in 
its  continuation .  was  the  great  racial  gulf  between  blacks  and 
whites.  The  establishment  and  continuation  of  the  slave  sys- 
tem on  the  American  continent  centuries  after  its  disappear- 
ance in  northern  Europe  must  be  attributed  to  two  cooperating 
causes:  the  presence  of  abundant  land  and  the  wide  racial 
differences  between  masters  and  slaves. 

Differences  in  climatic  conditions,  the  nature  of  the  soil,  and 
the  character  of  the  settlers  in  the  various  parts  of  the  seaboard 
district  led  to  the  wide  differences  in  industrial  conditions.  The 
North  was  peopled  by  men  and  women  coming  from  the  portion 
of  England  which  had  progressed  farthest  from  the  old  feudal 
regime  toward  modem  industrial  conditions;  and  slavery  did 
not  prove  to  be  profitable  in  the  North.  The  South,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  populated  by  men  of  the  older  type  and  slavery 
was  found  to  be  profitable.  The  plantation  system  was  essen-  ^ 
tially  feudalistic;  the  small  farm  and  the  small  manufacturing 
establishment  of  the  North  could  not  be  efficiently  worked 
by  the  slave  or  the  serf.  Two  entirely  different  social  and  in- 
dustrial systems  were  thus  planted  on  American  soil.  The 
plantation  system  and  negro  slavery  were  to  hold  the  South  in 


Hi 


14    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

its  grip  until  the  last  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  were  to 
retard  the  growth  of  modem  industry  in  that  section.  As  long 
as  slavery  was  continued  the  waves  of  industrial  progress  which 
swept  over  the  North  never  reached  beyond  Mason  and  Dixon 's 
line.  Until  its  awakening,  during  the  last  two  or  three  decades, 
the  South  socially  and  industrially  was  a  belated  section. 

Colonial  America  was  preeminently  a  land  of  farmers.  In 
the  North,  the  small  farm  system  and  the  scarcity  of  labor 
caused  interdependence  and  cooperation  to  become  character- 
istic of  the  people.  In  New  England  the  lack  of  soil  fertility 
caused  many  to  turn  their  backs  upon  the  farm  and  to  become 
fishermen,  sailors,  and  merchants.  Each  colonial  farmer  of  the 
North  was  also  a  mechanic;  he  made  the  implements  required 
upon  the  farm  and  attended  to  the  necessary  repairs.  Co- 
operation between  farmers  took  the  form  of  exchange  of  services 
in  harvesting  or  in  house  or  bam  ''raisings."  The  latter  were 
important  social  events  in  which  the  spirit  of  rivalry  or  of  emu- 
lation played  an  important  role.  Meals  were  served  by  the 
women,  and  the  occasion  was  made  a  gala  day  for  the  neighbor- 
hood. Cloth  was  woven  and  the  clothing  for  the  family  was 
manufactured  in  the  home  by  the  women  and  the  children 
of  the  household.  Saw-mills,  grist-mills,  tanneries,  salt-works, 
and  glass-works  were  early  established  on  a  humble  scale.  The 
saw-mill  was  used  in  New  England  before  it  was  introduced  into 
England  or  Holland.  Opposition  to  labor-saving  machines  did 
not  early  develop  in  America  because  of  the  scarcity  of  labor  and 
because  each  worker  hoped  soon  to  become  a  small  farmer  or  a 
small  manufacturer.  In  the  South  a  very  different  situation 
existed.  Each  plantation  was  an  isolated  and  nearly  an  inde- 
pendent economic  unit.  Such  goods  as  were  purchased  came 
directly  from  Europe,  and  were  landed  on  the  wharves  of  the 
various  plantations.  Consequently,  a  merchant  class  did  not 
develop  in  the  colonial  South. 

The  manual  laborers  of  the  colonial  period  who  were  employed 


IN  THE  COLONIAL  AND  REVOLUTIONARY  PERIOD     15 


by  employers  or  owners  may  be  divided  into  three  classes: 
wage  earners,  indentured  servants,  and  slaves.  The  wage 
eamers  and  indentured  servants  were  found  chiefly  in  the  North; 
the  majority  of  the  slaves  were  located  ujxjn  the  plantations  of 
the  South.  The  Puritan  of  New  England  attempted  to  regulate 
minutely  the  private  and  public  life  of  all  the  members  of  the 
community.  The  authorities  of  colonial  New  England  passed 
regulations  minutely  prescribing  the  mode  of  dress,  the  method 
of  cutting  hair,  the  entertainment  of  guests,  the  nature  of 
amusements,  the  scale  of  prices  and  of  wages,  and  various  other 
details  of  social  and  industrial  life. 

The  Court  of  Assistants  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  at 
its  first  meeting  in  August,  1630,  fixed  the  wages  of  artisans, 
such  as  carpenters,  masons,  sawyers.  Soon  after,  these  regu- 
lations were  repealed.  In  1633  another  attempt  was  made  to 
fix  the  wages  of  various  journeymen  at  not  more  than  two  shill- 
ings (about  fifty  cents)  per  day,  exclusive  of  board.  Wages  of 
inferior  or  unskilled  workmen  were  to  be  rated  by  certain  local 
authorities.  Penalties  were  to  be  applied  to  both  master  and 
men  for  violating  the  law.  In  the  same  year  a  sweeping  general 
order  was  promulgated  fixing  the  price  of  provisions,  clothing, 
tools,  and  other  commodities.  The  General  Court  alleged  that 
*'  the  great  extortion  used  by  divers  persons  of  little  conscience'* 
made  this  legislation  imperative.  In  1634  the  penalty  imposed 
upon  those  who  paid  more  than  the  wages  allowed  by  the  colo- 
nial authorities  was  repealed,  and  a  board  of  three  men  for  each 
town  was  authorized  to  fix  wages  in  case  a  dispute  arose.  This 
is  perhaps  the  earliest  legal  provision  for  the  establishment  of  a 
court  of  industrial  arbitration  on  American  soil.  In  1640  a 
considerable  fall  in  prices  occurred;  and  the  General  Court 
ordered  wages  reduced  in  proportion  to  the  fall  in  prices.  In 
Connecticut  certain  towns  also  fixed  the  wages  of  laborers. 
The  frequent  repetition  of  similar  legislation  indicates  that  it 
was  in  a  large  measure  ineffectual,  and  such  attempts  finally 


lit 


I' ' 


li 


1 6    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

ceased.  During  the  Revolution,  while  the  country  was  being 
flooded  with  paper  money,  other  brief  and  ineffectual  attempts 
were  also  made  to  fix  prices. 

At  the  close  of  the  Revolution  wages  were  low  and  the  price 
of  the  necessities  of  life  high.  The  home  of  the  workman  was 
unadorned  and  uninviting.  '*Sand  sprinkled  on  the  floor  did 
duty  as  a  carpet.  There  was  no  china  in  his  cupboard,  there 
were  no  prints  on  his  \talL— Wbat-a  stove  was  he-did  not  know, 
coal  he  had  never  seen,  matches  he  had  never  heard  of .  .  .  .  He 
rarely  tasted  fresh  meat  as  often  as  once  a  week,  and  paid  for  it 
a  much  higher  price  than  his  posteflty.  ...  If  the  food  of  an 
artisan  would  now  be  thought  coarse,  his  clothes  would  be 
thought  abominable.  A  pair  of  yellow  buckskin  or  leathern 
breeches,  a  red  flannel  jacket,  a  checked  shirt,  a  rusty  felt  hat 
cocked  up  at  the  comers,  shoes  of  neat's-skin  set  off  by  huge 
buckles  of  brass,  and  a  leathern  apron,  comprised  his  scanty, 
wardrobe.  The  leather  he  smeared  with  grease  to  keep  it  soft 
and  flexible."^  These  were  the  conditions  in  the  "good  old 
times."  While  the  contrast  between  rich  and  poor  may  be 
more  apparent  today  than  a  century  ago,  the  average  working- 
man  of  today  can  get  more  of  the  necessities  aind  comforts  of 
life  than  his  predecessors  of  three  or  four  generations  ago. 
Absolutely,  if  not  relatively,  the  workingmen's  position  has 
improved.  The  workman  who  got  into  debt  was  liable  to 
imprisonment  in  vile  prisons.  The  conditions  in  some  of  the 
colonial  prisons  beggar  description.  McMaster  has  pointed 
out  that  we  of  today  feel  more  compassion  "  for  a  galled  horse  or 
a  dog  run  over  at  a  street-crossing  than  our  great-grandfathers 
felt  for  a  woman  beaten  for  cursing  or  a  man  imprisoned  for 
debt."  The  workers  of  the  colonial  and  revolutionary  period 
had  little  or  no  intellectual  stimulus.  Their  environment  was 
purely  local;  little  or  nothing  was  known  of  the  outside  world; 
and  little  opportunity  was  afforded  for  united  action.     The  wage 

*  McMaster,  History  of  the  People  of  the  United  States.    Vol.  i :  96-97. 


i 


IN  THE  COLONIAL  AND  REVOLUTIONARY  PERIOD     17 

earners  of  this  period  were  not  factors  in  the  political  world. 
The  wage  earner  without  property  was  denied  the  right  to  vote. 
The  gild  system  appeared  in  the  colonies  only  in  a  rudi- 
mentary way.  The  first  American  gild  seems  to  have  been 
organized  among  the  shoemakers  of  Boston.  It  was  incor- 
porated by  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  in  1648.  The 
coopers  were  likewise  organized  as  a  gild.  The  shoemakers 
formed  a  gild  for  the  chief  purpose  of  controlling  inferior 
workmen.  The  gild  officers  were  given  certain  powers  of 
inspection  and  of  regulation,  and  they  could  penalize  workers 
for  any  violation  of  the  rliles  and  regulations.  The  colonial 
authorities,  however,  retained  the  power  to  remedy  abuses. 
The  gild  was  organized  during  the  process  of  ''transition  from 
the  stage  of  the  itinerant  shoemaker,  working  up  the  raw 
material  belonging  to  his  customer  in  the  home  of  the  latter, 
to  the  stage  of  the  settled  shoemaker,  working  up  his  own  raw 
material  in  his  own  shop  to  the  order  of  his  customer. "  1 

In  the  eighteenth  century  a  few  organizations  appear  which 
bear  the  characteristic  marks  of  the  local  trade  union.    Early 
in  the  century  the  ship  calkers  formed  a  ''calkers  club";  but  the 
purposes  were  primarily  poHtical,  not  economic.    Temporary 
organizations  or  societies  of  printers  were  organized  from  time 
to  time,  beginning  in  New  York  City  in  1776.     ''The  Typo- 
graphical Society"  of  that  city  was  in  existence  from  1795 
to   1797.    Professor  Commons  calls  the  ''Federal  Society  of 
Journeymen  Cordwainers,"  organized  in  Philadelphia  in  1794, 
the  first  American  trade  union.     This  organization  was  pre- 
ceded by  an  employers'  association,— the  ''Society  of  Master 
Cordwainers  of  the  City  of  PhUadelphia, "  formed  in  1789. 
The  cordwainers  held  together  for  twelve  years;  in  1799  they 
conducted  a  strike  of  about  ten  weeks'  duration.    The  New 
York  shipwrights  formed  a  society  in  1803;  the  carpenters  of 

» Commons,    "American   Shoemakers,    1648-1895,"   Quarterly  Journal  of 
Economics.    Vol.  23  :  42. 


till 


i 


V 


i8    HISTORY  AND  TROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

that  city  organized  in  1806;  and  the  tailors  formed  a  union  in  the 
same  year.  The  organizations  of  this  period  were  weak,  local, 
ephemeral,  and  few  in  number.  Not  until  after  the  War  of 
181 2  does  the  real  history  of  labor  organizations  actually  begin. 

The  indentured  servants  were  of  three  distinct  classes; 
redemptioners  or  free-willers,  kidnapped  persons,  and  criminals. 
The  chief  distinction  between  indentured  servants  and  appren- 
tices was  one  of  age.  The  redemptioners  were  indentured  for  a 
limited  term  of  years,  usually  because  of  the  prepayment  of  the 
passage  money.  Many,  attracted  by  the  promise  of  better 
opportunities  in  the  New  World,  were  willing  to  exchange  their 
labor  power  for  a  term  of  years  in  return  for  transportation  to 
the  land  of  promise.  "Valuations  of  unexpired  serving-time 
were  common  matter  in  inventories."  The  redemptioners 
were  frequently  skilled  workmen  coming  from  a  variety  of 
places.  "Irish,  North  British,  German,  a  'Jersey  boy'  and  a 
*  Jersey  maid'  were  all  melted  in  a  fierce  ethnical  crucible,  and 
were  blended  together  by  that  strange  assimilating  power 
working  constantly  in  American  history."^  After  their  term 
of  service  expired,  the  majority  of  the  male  indentured  servants 
of  this  class  became  farmers  and  artisans,  and  the  women  mar- 
ried freemen.  Many  German  redemptioners  migrated  to  this 
country  during  the  half  century  preceding  the  opening  of  the 
Revolution. 

Kidnapping  or  "spiriting"  was  most  prevalent  in  England 
during  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  Boys  and  girls  of  the  poorer 
classes  were  usually  the  victims  of  the  kidnappers  or  "spiriters." 
It  was  estimated  that  about  ten  thousand  persons  were  kid- 
napped in  England  during  the  year  1670.  One  professional 
kidnapper  is  said  to  have  sent  840  persons  to  America  in  one 
year.  The  punishment  for  kidnapping  was  light.  For  example, 
one  girl  was  spirited  away  by  a  man  and  a  woman.  Each  was 
fined  twelve  pence.    If  they  had  stolen  a  small  amount  of  prop- 

1  Weeden,  Economic  and  Social  History  of  New  England.    Vol.  2:  521. 


IN  THE  COLONIAL  AND  REVOLUTIONARY  PERIOD     19 

erty,  the  punishment  would  have  been  death.  Judges  in  those 
days  were  very  zealous  in  guarding  property  rights;  but  personal 
rights  were  considered  to  be  of  little  importance.  The  judicial 
and  popular  attitude  of  leniency  toward  the  crime  of  kidnapping 
helpless  victims  and  selling  them  into  temporary  servitude  was 
due  chiefly  to  two  considerations.  In  the  first  place,  it  was  felt 
that  *'  the  plantations  cannot  be  maintained  without  a  consid- 
erable number  of  white  servants, "  and  consequently  any  feeling 
of  humanitarianism  gave  way  to  what  was  believed  to  be  eco- 
nomic necessity.  Secondly,  as  has  been  indicated,  judges  and 
other  persons  exhibited  little  sympathy  for  human  suffering.^ 

Deportation  and  banishment  of  criminals  and  other  unde- 
sirable persons  were  conmion  forms  of  punishment  in  ancient 
and  medieval  times.  The  transportation  of  such  persons  to  the 
American  colonies  served  a  double  purpose.  England  was  rid 
of  criminals  and  agitators,  and  the  colonies  received  a  needed 
supply  of  laborers.  Beginning  with  1662,  various  acts  were 
passed  authorizing  the  deportation  of  various  malefactors.  A 
statute  of  1 71 7  systematized  this  legislation  and  provided  that 
certain  classes  might  be  transported  for  seven  years,  others  for 
fourteen  years.  At  least  fifty  thousand  convicts  are  estimated 
to  have  been  sent  to  the  colonies  from  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 
Maryland  received  more  of  these  convicts  than  any  other 
colony;  the  majority  of  the  indentured  servants  in  that 
colony  were  of  this  class. 

Servants  were  treated  with  practically  the  same  severity  as 
were  the  slaves.  They  could  be  flogged  for  disobedience;  the 
law  in  regard  to  runaways  applied  to  servants  and  slaves  alike. 
Some  colonies  passed  laws  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  cruel 
punishments  and  extraordinary  exactions,  and  requiring  the 
master  to  educate  the  youthful  servants.  As  the  indentured 
servant  could  only  be  used  for  a  period  of  years  and  need  not  be 
cared  for  by  their  master  in  old  age,  the  tendency  was  to  over- 

*  Channing,  History  of  the  United  States.    Vol.  2  :  368-370. 


1 


II 


» 


I 


20    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

drive  the  servant  even  more  than  the  slave.  However,  Professor 
Channing  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  condition  of  the  indentured 
servant  was  good  until  negro  slavery  became  common. 

In  the  early  history  of  the  country  slavery  existed  in  nearly 
all  of  the  colonies.  It  was  by  no  means  confined  to  the  Southern 
colonies;  slaves  were  held  by  the  Puritan  in  Massachusetts,  the 
radical  of  Rhode  Island,  and  the  Quaker  of  Pennsylvania. 
Many  leading  NewEnglanders  were  engaged  in  the  slave  trafl&c. 
and  many  blacks,  free  and  slave,  fought  in  the  Revolution; 
Purely  natural  causes  are  responsible  for  the  decline  of  the 
slave  system  in  the  North  and  for  its  rapid  expansion  in  the 
South.  In  the  North  there  was  need  of  skilled  workers,  slaves 
could  not  be  used  effectively  on  the  small  farms  of  that  section, 
and  the  negro  was  not  well  adapted  to  the  cold  and  dampness 
of  the  North.  Consequently,  the  chief  demand  for  slaves  in  the 
North  was  for  domestic  service  or  for  the  purpose  of  exhibiting 
conspicuous  luxury.  In  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century 
the  plantations  of  Rhode  Island  utilized  the  labor  of  a  consid- 
erable number  of  slaves.  Slavery  both  North  and  South  was  on 
the  decline  when  the  invention  of  the  cotton  gin  revolutionized 
economic  condition  in  the  South.  Many  of  the  Southern 
leaders  of  the  revolutionary  period  were  opposed  to  the  system 
and  hoped  to  see  its  gradual  extinction.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  Jefferson  in  the  original  draft  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence bitterly  arraigned  George  III  because  he  had  aided 
the  slave  traffic.  George  III  ''has  prostituted  his  negative  for 
suppressing  every  legislative  attempt  to  prohibit  or  to  restrain 
this  execrable  commerce.''  As  late  as  1821  a  Richmond  news- 
paper, lamenting  the  backward  conditions  existing  in  Virginia, 
declared  that  ''slavery  is  one  great  cause  of  all  our  misfortunes. " 

The  prevalence  of  slavery  in  the  South  during  the  first  six 
decades  of  the  nineteenth  century  is  in  no  small  measure  re- 
sponsible for  the  absence  of  industrial  progress.  While  the  North 
was  developing  rapidly,  while  England,  Germany,  and  France 


IN  THE  COLONIAL  AND  REVOLUTIONARY  PERIOD     21 


were  being  transformed  industrially,  the  South  was  throttled  by 
an  outgrown  economic  system.  Manufacture  and  intensive 
agriculture  were  practically  unknown.  Agricultural  methods 
were  "stereotyped."  The  development  of  the  factory  system 
and  the  history  of  organized  labor  in  the  South  do  not  begin  until 
recent  decades;  and  even  today  the  presence  of  the  black  man 
complicates  the  situation.  The  political,  industrial,  and  social 
conditions  existing  in  the  South  of  today  have  been  fashioned  in 
no  small  measure  by  forces  growing  out  of  the  long  continuation 
of  negro  slavery  and  the  presence  in  recent  decades  of  large 
numbers  of  emancipated  slaves  and  their  descendants.  Indus- 
trially the  South  is  still  several  decades  behind  the  North;  but  it 
is  now  in  a  state  of  rapid  evolution.*  The  presence  of  the 
negro  as  a  slave  and  as  a  freeman  has  forced  upon  the  South, 
in  an  aggravated  form,  many  of  the  complex  problems  which 
recent  immigration  has  given  to  the  remainder  of  the  United 
States.  • 


i^'    ?i 


REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

McMaster,  History  of  the  People  of  the  United  States.     Vol.  I. 

Channing,  History  of  the  United  States.     Vol.  II,  Ch.  13. 

Howe,  The  Puritan  Republic. 

Wright,  Industrial  Evolution  of  the  United  States.     Chs.  1-9,  and  18. 

Weeden,  Economic  and  Social  History  of  New  England. 

Com&n  t  Industrie^  History  of  the  United  States.     Pp.  41-46. 

Mitchell,  Organized  Labor.    Pp.  51-62. 

Commons,  History  of  Labor  in  the  United  States.     Vol.  I,  part  I. 

>  See  article  by  the  writer,  "  The  South  during  the  Last  Decade,"  Sewance 
Review.    Vol.  12:174-181  (1904). 


t|i 


; 


i 


CHAPTER  III 

THE    PRE-CIVIL    WAR    PERIOD 

The  Development  of  the  Factory  System.—ln  the  colonial  and 
revolutionary  period  all  industry  was  in  the  domestic  or  handi- 
craft stage.  Manufacture  was  carried  on  in  the  home  or  in 
small  shops;  it  was  still,  as  the  derivation  of  the  word  indicates, 
the  making  of  things  by  hand.  The  workers  were  isolated  from 
each  other  or  associated  together  in  small  groups.  The  worker 
usually  owned  his  tools,  and  frequently  the  raw  materials  and  the 
products  of  his  labor.  There  was  little  or  no  division  of  labor, 
or  use  of  power  other  than  human  brawn  and  muscle.  In  the 
facto^^y  system  with  which  we  are  familiar  today,  many  workers 
are  associated  together  who  do  not  own  the  tools  or  machines 
with  which  they  work,  the  raw  material  which  they  form  into 
finished  or  semi-finished  products,  or  the  products  of  their  toil. 
Division  of  labor  is  often  minute,  and  is  always  present.  Or- 
ganization, systematization,  and  concentration  are  characteris- 
tic of  the  modem  factory  system.  The  worker  is  a  wage  earner; 
and,  with  rare  exceptions,  cannot  pass  from  that  rank  to  the 
coveted  position  of  employer.  Steam,  gas,  or  water  power,  not 
human  energy,  is  the  motive  force  which  drives  the  machines 
assembled  in  the  factory.  Since  the  adoption  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, the  United  States  has  passed  through  an  industrial  evolu- 
tion which  has  displaced,  except  in  the  case  of  a  few  ''belated" 
industries,  the  household  form  of  industry  and  substituted  in 
its  place  a  highly  organized  form  of  the  factory  system. 

The  factory  system  has  not  evolved  at  a  uniform  pace  in  all 
portions  of  the  industrial  organism.  Cotton  manufacture  was 
the  first  to  pass  from  the  household  stage;  and  woolen  manu- 


THE  PRE-CIVIL  WAR  PERIOD 


23 


facture  followed  closely  in  its  footsteps.  Certain  industries  are 
even  now  in  the  transitional  stage,  as,  for  example,  the  clothing 
industry,  laundering,  and  cooking.  England  was  the  leader  in 
the  so-called  industrial  revolution.  Beginning  in  the*  early 
portion  of  the  second  half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  a  series  of 
inventions  gave  the  impetus  which  led  to  the  utilization  of 
machinery  on  a  large  scale.  Before  this  time  yarn  had  been 
spun  in  single  threads  upon  a  spinning  wheel;  and  weaving  was 
accomplished  by  means  of  a  hand-loom.  As  the  latter  was  the 
more  efficient  of  the  two  machines,  the  first  inventions  were 
attempts  to  improve  the  method  of  spinning.  James  Har- 
greaves,  a  weaver  of  Lancashire,  invented  the  spinning  "jenny." 
This  name  was  chosen  in  honor  of  the  inventor's  wife.  In  1767 
Hargreaves  built  the  first  spinning  jenny  bearing  eight  spindles. 
Although  other  attempts  had  been  made  to  construct  a  spinning 
machine  of  more  than  one  spindle,  this  was  the  first  one  that 
was  of  practical  value.  This  primitive  machine  caused  anxiety 
among  the  spinners,  who  feared  that  it  would  displace  many  of 
them,  and  at  one  time  a  mob  broke  into  the  house  of  the  inventor 
and  destroyed  the  machine.  The  inventions  of  Arkwright  and 
Crompton  increased  the  efficiency  of  spinning  machinery. 
Consequently,  improvements  were  demanded  in  the  process  of 
weaving.  In  1785  a  clergyman,  named  Cartwright,  invented 
the  power-loom.  The  necessary  mechanism  for  the  advent 
of  the  factory  system  in  the  textile  industry  was  now 
complete. 

England,  through  the  use  of  this  machinery,  was  given  a  point 
of  vantage  over  the  remainder  of  the  world.  Without  the  use  of 
machinery,  no  nation  could  hope  to  successfully  compete  with 
the  island  kingdom.  In  order  to  retain  this  advantage.  Parlia- 
ment passed  laws  which  prohibited  the  exportation  of  machines, 
tools,  and  models,  and  which  made  it  a  criminal  offense  to  try 
to  induce  textile  operatives  to  leave  England.  By  means  of 
these  mercantilist  policies,  England  was  able  to  retard  slightly 


24    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

the  development  of  manufacture  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic; 
but  irrespective  of  the  governmental  policy,  the  growth  of  the 
factory  system  in  the  United  States  would  have  lagged  behind 
the  development  in  England. 

The  first  factory  in  the  United  States  was  erected  for  the  pur- 
pose of  manufacturing  cotton  goods  at  Beverly,  Massachusetts, 
in  the  year  1787.  This  venture,  as  well  as  several  others  made 
in  different  places,  was  unsuccessful.  The  Slater  factory  at 
Pawtucket,  Rhode  Island,  built  in  1790,  was  the  first  successful 
venture.  Samuel  Slater,  the  *' father  of  American  manufac- 
ture," had  served  as  an  apprentice  at  cotton  spinning  in  England. 
Learning  of  the  opportunities  in  this  country,  he  determined  to 
cross  the  Atlantic  and  to  introduce  improved  spinning  machinery 
on  this  side  of  the  ocean.  Slater  was  obliged  to  come  without 
drawings  or  models;  he  constructed  the  machinery  used  in  the 
Pawtucket  mill  aided  only  by  his  memory  of  the  machines  which 
he  had  operated  in  England.  Development  in  the  cotton  indus- 
try was  very  slow  for  many  years,  as  the  importation  of  cotton 
goods  from  England  was  considerable.  According  to  J.  L. 
Bishop,  in  his  History  of  American  Manufactures,  there  were, 
in  1803,  only  four  cotton  mills  in  the  entire  United  States.  The 
early  factories  only  had  machinery  for  spinning.  It  was  not 
until  1814,  that  Francis  Lowell,  practically  indep)endent  of 
English  aid,  invented  a  power-loom.  This  was  first  installed  in 
a  factory  at  Waltham,  Massachusetts.  This  was  the  first  com- 
plete factory  for  the  conversion  of  cotton  into  cloth,  erected  in 
the  United  States. 

In  1794  machinery  was  first  introduced  into  the  woolen  in- 
dustry in  this  country;  the  machinery  was  introduced  by  Eng- 
lishmen. Three  years  later  a  factory  was  built  for  the  purpose  ^ 
of  spinning  and  weaving  flax,  hemp,  and  tow.  Water  power 
furnished  the  motive  force;  and  the  employees  were  mostly 
boys. 

During  the  infancy  of  the  iron  industry,  charcoal  was  used  in 


THE  PRE- CIVIL  WAR  PERIOD 


25 


furnaces  for  the  reduction  of  the  ore  to  pig  iron.  Before  1800 
the  iron  industry  was  confined  to  the  region  east  of  the  Alle- 
gheny mountains.  The  eastern  portion  of  Pennsylvania  con- 
tained many  furnaces  and  several  rolling  and  slitting  mills. 
About  181 5  England  began  to  use  coke  made  from  bituminous 
or  soft  coal  instead  of  charcoal.  Our  bituminous  deposits  were 
located  too  far  from  the  coast  regions  to  be  economically  avail- 
able until  transportation  facilities  were  improved;  and,  as  the 
forests  on  the  coast  began  to  disappear,  charcoal  became  ex- 
pensive. England  using  coke,  and  other  countries  of  northern 
Europe  still  having  plentiful  supplies  of  charcoal,  now  became 
damgerous  competitors  of  our  iron  manufacture.  Soon  after 
the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  iron  industry  began 
to  develop  in  western  Pennsylvania.  But  it  was  necessary  that 
transportation  facilities  be  much  improved  before  our  iron, 
which  was  located,  in  a  large  measure,  inland,  could  successfully 
compete  with  that  produced  in  England  and  Scandinavia,  in 
the  markets  along  the  Atlantic  coast  plain.  With  the  growth 
of  manufacture  in  other  lines,  the  demand  for  iron  increased 
rapidly;  but  the  importation  from  Europe  practically  kept 
pace  with  the  expansion  of  the  market.  Professor  Taussig 
estimated  that  the  imports  of  crude  iron  averaged  about  twenty 
thousand  tons  per  year  in  1818-1821,  and  about  forty  thousand 
tons  in  1828-1830.^  In  spite  of  a  protective  tariff  the  iron 
industries  grew  slowly  and  were  unable  to  develop  so  as  to 
supply  the  home  market.  The  phenomenal  growth  of  the  iron 
industry  in  this  country  began  with  the  extensive  use  of  an- 
thracite coal  in  the  process  of  smelting.  This  stage  was  reached 
about  1840.  In  i860  soft  coal  or  coke  began  to  rapidly  take 
the  place  of  anthracite.  After  1840  the  demand  for  iron  rails 
for  railways  greatly  stimulated  the  evolution  of  the  iron  indus- 
try. The  production  of  pig  iron  rose  from  about  20,000  tons  in 
1820  to  315,000  in  1840,  to  920,000  in  i860. 

1  Tariff  History  of  the  United  States.     P.  55,  footnote. 


26    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

The  embargo  act  and  the  War  of  1812  gave  the  real  impetus 
which  led  to  the  rapid  growth  of  the  factory  system.  From  that 
time,  except  during  certain  periods  of  depression,  the  student  of 
industrial  history  views  the  gradual  destruction  of  the  crude  and 
unsystematic  form  of  domestic  industry  and  the  corresponding 
growth  of  the  factory  system.  The  period  i8i6toi822  was  one 
of  depression  in  industry.  But  as  early  as  182 1  the  cotton 
industry  began  to  enter  upon  an  era  of  prosperity.  Many 
New  England  towns  date  their  birth  from  the  early  twenties. 
During  the  two  decades  18  20- 1840  the  number  of  persons 
living  in  the  Northern  states  and  engaged  in  manufacture 
increased  much  more  rapidly  than  did  the  number  engaged 
in  commerce  or  agriculture.  In  Massachusetts,  during  this 
period  of  twenty  years,  the  number  engaged  in  manufacture 
was  multiplied  nearly  threefold,  while  the  number  engaged  in 
commerce  was  diminished  nearly  forty  per  cent.  These  statis- 
tics show  clearly  the  reason  for  the  change  in  the  attitude  of 
Massachusetts  upon  the  question  of  protection.  The  following 
table  presents  the  census  figures  for  six  Northern  states.  The 
classification  adopted  by  the  census  authorities  in  1840  was 
somewhat  broader  than  the  one  used  in  1820;  but  a  fairly 
accurate  comparison  can  be  drawn. 


The 

Number  of 

Persons  engaged  in 

• 

A  griculture 

Commerce 

Manufacture 

1820 

1840 

X820 

1840 

1830 

1840 

Massachusetts 

63,460 

87,837 

13,301 

8,063 

33,464 

85,176 

Connecticut  . . 

50,518 

56,955 

3,581 

2,743 

17,541 

27,932 

Rhode  Island  . 

12,559 

16,617 

1,162 

1,348 

6,091 

21,271 

New  York    .  . . 

247,648 

455,954 

9,113 

28,468 

60,038 

173,193 

Pennsylvania  . 

140,801 

207,533 

7,083 

15,338 

60,215 

105,883 

Ohio    

110,001 

272,579 

1,459 

9,201 

18,956 

66,265 

Three  stages  may  be  discerned  in  the  evolution  of  manufac- 
turing industries,  —  expansion,  concentration  or  large-scale 
development,  and  integration  or  combination.  During  the 
first  stage  the  number  of  establishments  in  a  given  industry,  as 


nrt 


THE  PRE-CI\  IL  WAR  PERIOD 


27 


well  as  the  total  amount  of  capital  and  the  total  number  of 
wage  earners  connected  with  the  particular  industry,  rapidly 
increases.  During  the  second  stage  the  amount  of  capital  and 
the  number  of  wage  earners  connected  with  the  industry  still 
increase,  but  the  number  of  establishments  tends  to  diminish  or 
to  remain  stationary.  In  other  words,  the  average  size  of  each 
establishment  increases  rapidly  in  regard  to  the  capital  invested, 
output,  and  the  number  of  employees.  During  the  stage  of 
combination  allied  industries  are  gradually  drawn  under  the 
same  management  or  control. 

It  has  been  stated  that  industries  enter  the  factory  stage  at 
different  chronological  periods.  In  like  manner,  different  indus- 
tries pass  through  these  three  steps  in  industrial  evolution  at 
different  rates.  In  general,  however,  in  the  United  States  the 
era  of  expansion  extended  from  1808  to  1857,  the  era  of  concen- 
tration from  1857  to  1893,  ^^^  the  epoch  of  combination  from 
the  last  named  date  to  the  present  time.  In  the  cotton  industry 
concentration  began  as  early  as  the  decade  of  the  forties.  In 
the  woolen  industry  concentration  began  a  decade  later  in 
the  period,  1850-1860. 


/ 


Cotton  Factories  in  the  United  States 


Year 

Number 

Capital  Invested 

Employees 

Value  of  Product 

1831 

800 

$41,000,000 

62,000 

— 

1840 

1,240 

51,000,000 

72,000 

— 

1850 

1,074 

76,000,000 

95,000 



Woolen 

Factories  in  the 

United  States 

1840 

1,420 

$16,000,000 

21,342 

$21,000,000 

1850 

1,675 

32,000,000 

45,438 

49,000,000 

i860 

1,475 

39,000,000 

50,419 

73,500,000 

In  the  era  preceding  1837  the  factory  system,  while  producing 
only  a  small  fraction  of  the  total  manufactured  products  of  the 
nation,  assumed  respectable  proportions.  The  two  decader> 
from  1837  to  1857  were  years  of  continual  development.  The 
era  of  the  Civil  War  gave  a  great  impetus  to  industrial  activity. 


!! 


28    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

Statistics  of  early  manufacture  are  not  accurate;  but  the 
selected  data  which  follows,  taken  from  a  variety  of  sources,  is 
sufficiently  accurate  to  prove  that  factories  and  factory  work 
were  of  no  little  industrial  importance  in  this  nation  before 
the  panic  of  1857. 

In  183 1  it  was  estimated  that  not  less  than  29,000  men  were 
employed  in  iron  manufacture;  the  estimated  wages  of  whom 
were  $8,776,000.  The  quantity  of  bar  iron  produced  in  183 1 
was  about  four  times  that  produced  in  18 10.  The  total  quan- 
tity of  iron  made  in  the  United  States  in  1830  was  estimated  to 
be  191,500  tons,  —  two-fifths  of  which  was  produced  in  the 
state  of  Pennsylvania.  In  1829  there  were  over  forty  furnaces 
and  eighty  forges  and  rolling  mills  in  that  commonwealth.  Ac- 
cording to  the  state  census,  the  state  of  New  York  possessed,  in 
1835,  112  cotton  factories,  234  woolen  factories,  293  iron  works 
of  various  sorts,  70  paper  mills,  13  glass  factories,  and  63  rope 
manufactories.  The  cotton  mills  employed  12,954  individuals, 
and  produced  upwards  of  21,000,000  yards  of  cloth. 

There  were  located  in  Cincinnati,  in  the  year  1830,  10  foun- 
dries, 3  or  4  cotton  factories,  15  rolling  mills,  several  steam 
manufactories,  5  breweries,  i  button  factory,  i  steam  coopering 
establishment,  2  steam  flour  mills,  and  5  or  6  steam  saw-mills. 
At  least  40  establishments  were  using  steam  power.  The  pop- 
ulation of  the  city  was  about  25,000.  As  early  as  181 2,  50 
cotton  factories  were  located  within  a  radius  of  thirty  miles  of 
Providence.  Twenty  years  later  100  steam  engines  were  made 
in  Pittsburg.  In  1832  the  estimated  value  of  the  output  of 
the  paper  mills  of  the  United  States  was  $7,000,000  per  annum. 
\  The  Rise  of  Industrial  Cities.  The  modern  industrial  city 
is  a  product  of  the  factory  system.  Parallel  with  the  develop- 
ment in  manufacture  moved  the  evolution  of  modem  urban  life 
with  its  many  problems  which  are  due  to  the  dense  popula- 
tion, the  housing  conditions,  and  the  factory  environment. 
During  the  era  of  expansion  in  the  development  of  the  factory 


THE  PRE-CIVIL  WAR  PERIOD 


29 


system  the  industrial  or  mill  town  of  the  modern  type  makes  its 
first  appearance;  and  the  percentage  of  the  total  population 
living  in  cities  increases.  When  the  period  of  concentration  is 
reached,  the  ratio  of  urban  to  the  total  population  mounts 
rapidly  upwards.  The  following  table  taken  from  the  Reports 
of  the  Twelfth  Census  shows  this  movement  very  clearly: 

Per  cent,  of  Total  Population  in  Cities  of  8000  or  Over 


Census  Years 

Number  0/  Cities 

Per  cent.    Urban  of  T<4al 

1790 

6 

3-4 

1800 

6 

4.0 

1810 

II 

4.9 

1820 

13 

4.9 

1830 

26 

5-7 

1840 

44 

8.5 

1850 

85 

I2.S 

i860 

141 

16.I 

1870 

226 

20.9 

1880 

286 

22.6 

1890 

447 

29.2 

1900 

545 

331 

1910 

— 

— 

The  movement  towards  the  city  begins  to  be  very  perceptible 
in  the  decade  1820-1830;  and  this  period  marks  the  definite  and 
unmistakable  opening  of  the  era  of  expansion  in  the  textile 
industry.  This  phenomenon  was  in  a  large  measure  confined 
to  the  North  Atlantic  states;  and  was  the  most  well  defined  in 
Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  New  York,  and 
Pennsylvania.  Exclusive  of  Maine  and,  perhaps,  Vermont, 
the  population  of  New  England  almost  ceased  to  grow  by 
18 1 6.  The  farming  land  had  nearly  all  been  occupied,  and 
the  surplus  population  was  emigrating  to  other  states.  The 
rise  of  the  new  system  of  manufacture  and  the  recovery  from 
the  depression  following  the  War  of  181 2  saved  New  England 
from  stagnation. 

A  brief  reference  to  the  growth  of  urban  population  in  the 
manufacturing  sections  of  the  country  during  the  three  decades 


j  i 


30  HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORCANIZrED   LABOR 

immediately  preceding  1850  will  aid  the  student  when  consid- 
eration is  given  to  the  humanitarian  and  labor  movements  of 
the  same  epochs.  The  population  of  Massachusetts  increased 
during  the  two  decades,  1800-1820,  nearly  24  per  cent.;  during 
1820-1840,  over  40  per  cent.;  during  1830-1850,  nearly  60 
per  cent.;  but  during  the  same  periods  the  increase  in  the 
population  of  the  city  of  Boston  was  approximately  73,115, 
and  123  per  cent.,  respectively.  Lowell,  which  had  no  exist- 
ence in  1820,  boasted  of  a  population  of  over  20,000  in  1840; 
New  Bedford  increased  from  3,947  to  12,087  during  the  same 
space  of  time.  "Lowell  is  a  mere  manufacturing  village,  and 
no  place,  we  believe,  has  ever  increased  from  manufactures 
alone,  with  greater  rapidity,  or,  with  the  same  population,  has 
had  an  equal  number  of  operatives.  In  1830  its  population 
was  6,500,  and  in  December,  1833,  it  was  estimated  at  15,000; 
and  more  than  one-third  of  these  were  employed  in  cotton 
establishments."  ^  In  1790  less  than  one-twentieth  part  of 
the  total  population  of  Massachusetts  lived  within  the  limits 
of  the  city  of  Boston;  in  1820  about  one-twelfth  part  and  in 
1840  about  one-eighth  part  were  inhabitants  of  that  city. 
''Within  ten  miles  of  Boston  there  is  now  (1846)  one-quarter 
part  of  the  population  of  the  state,  amounting  to  more  than 
200,000,  chiefly  dependent  upon  Boston  as  the  center  of  busi- 
ness; in  1790  the  number  was  less  than  a  ninth  part  of  the 
whole."  2  Chickering  shows  that  213  towns,  chiefly  agricul- 
tural, situated  in  Massachusetts,  increased  only  8.5  per  cent, 
from  1820  to  1840,  while  88  manufacturing  towns  increased 
79.62  per  cent.  During  the  score  of  years  from  1820  to  1840 
the    population    of    Rhode    Island    increased    approximately 

31  per  cent.,  that  of  the  city  of  Providence  nearly  100  per  cent.; 
in  New  York  State  the  increase  was  nearly  77  per  cent.,  while 
in  the  city  of  New  York  the  percentage  was  about  153  per 

^  Pitkin,  A  Statistical  View  of  the  Commerce  of  the  United  States.  P.  523.  (1835.) 
*  Chickering,  On  Population  and  Immigration.     P.  109. 


THE   PRE-CIVIL  WAR   PERIOD 


.31 


cent.;    in  Pennsylvania  the  increase  was  over  64  p-er  cent., 
and  that  of  Philadelphia  over  72  per  cent. 

As  people  long  accustomed  to  rural  life  were  suddenly  thrust 
into  barrack-like  homes  in  dreary  mushroom  factory  towns,  the 
now  familiar  evils  of  city  life  began  to  make  their  first  appearance 
upon  American  soil.  Pauperism,  juvenile  crime,  woman  and 
child  labor  in  factories  became  well  known.  Massed  together 
in  the  growing  cities  and  towns,  opportunities  were  not  lacking 
for  organization  and  agitation.  The  long  struggle  between  the 
conservatives  of  the  Atlantic  coast  region  and  the  turbulent  and 
individualistic  frontiersmen  of  the  uplands  and  the  backwoods 
had  finally  forced  the  abolition  in  most  of  the  Northern  States 
of  the  old  religious  and  property  qualifications  for  the  exercise 
of  the  suffrage.  At  a  propitious  time  the  democratic  frontiers- 
man placed  the  ballot  in  the  hands  of  the  newly  created  class  of 
factory  and  town  wage  earners;  and  then  the  American  wage 
earner  appeared  on  the  industrial  and  political  horizon. 

Labor  Organizations.  Modem  trade  unionism  was  practi- 
cally non-existent  previous  to  1825.  Certain  rudimentary 
organizations  are  found,  but  these  were  purely  local,  ephemeral, 
and  confined  to  members  of  one  trade.  The  early  isolated  ^" 
organizations  were  called  trade  societies.  ''Modem  trade- 
unionism  as  an  industrial  and  political  force, "  writes  Professor 
Commons,  "began  with  the  coming  together  of  previously 
existing  societies  from  several  trades  to  form  a  central  body 
on  the  representative  principle."  These  were  called  trades' 
unions,  not  trade  unions.  To  the  then  largest  city  of  the  United 
States,  Philadelphia,  and  not  to  England,  as  commonly  stated 
belongs  the  honor  of  being  the  birthplace  of  the  modem  trades' 
union,  —  that  is,  a  union  or  association  of  trade  unions  or  labor 
societies.  The  Mechanics'  Union  of  Trade  Associations  was 
organized  in  that  city  in  1827,  and  antedates  by  two  years  the 
first  similar  organization  in  England. 
During  the  succeeding  ten  years  three  forms  of  labor  organ!- 


;  { 


32    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

zations  may  be  noticed:  (i)  The  trades'  unions  in  different 
towns  and  cities.  (2)  The  first  form  went  into  politics  (1827- 
183 1),  and  formed  workingmen's  parties  in  various  cities. 
(3)  After  the  close  of  the  rocket-like  career  of  the  workingmen's 
parties,  events  moved  slowly  for  a  few  years.  Then,  with  the 
era  of  swiftly  rising  prices  which  preceded  the  panic  of  1837, 
came  the  rapid  growth  of  trades'  unions  and  the  organization  of 
several  national  trade  unions  and  of  the  National  Trades' 
Union,  which  held  three  annual  meetings  in  1834, 1835,  and  1836, 
and  possibly  one  more  in  1837.  Practically  nothing  was  known 
of  this  early  ephemeral,  but  pretentious,  national  organization, 
until  its  history  was  laid  bare  as  the  result  of  the  labors  of 
Professor  John  R.  Commons.  • 

The  inception  of  the  first  American  labor  movement  was  the 
natural  or  rather  inevitable,  though  direct,  result  of  the  aggre- 
gation of  workers  in  towns  and  in  factories,  and  of  the  partial 
displacement  of  the  domestic  form  of  industrial  organization 
by  the  factory  and  the  contract  system.  The  factory  workers 
were  not,  however,  the  first  organized;  the  first  orgam'zations 
were  formed  in  the  skilled  trades.  The  growth  of  towns  and 
the  gradual  improvement  of  transportation  facilities  were 
extending  the  market  area;  and  wealthy  merchants  were 
sending  their  wares  to  distant  points.  The  men  in  the 
skilled  trades  were  confronted  by  a  new  situation.  City  life 
and  the  steadily  developing  division  of  labor  were  modifying 
social  conditions,  were  exaggerating  and  exposing  to  public 
gaze  old  evils  such  as  pauperism,  intemperance,  and  juvenile 
crime,  and  were  producing  evils  hitherto  unknown.  Class 
demarcation  was  becoming  sharper,  and  the  workingmen  were 
in  a  state  of  dissatisfaction  and  unrest.  Leaders  only  were 
needed  to  convert  this  unrest  into  organized  remedial  effort. 
The  workingmen  were  firmly  convinced  that  social  and 
industrial  conditions  were  awry;  and  every  enthusiastic  and 
persuasive  would-be  reformer  was  able  to  obtain  a  hearing 


THE  PRE-CIVIL  WAR  PERIOD 


33 


and  a  following.  This  transitory  period  provided  the  properly 
prepared  ground  for  the  fitful  and  changeful  policies  which 
characterized  its  many  reform  movements.  The  student  of 
mob  or  crowd  psychology  may  find  in  this  period  a  fruitful 
field  for  study.  The  workers  passed  from  the  trades'  union 
to  the  political  party  in  a  vain  endeavor  to  mitigate  the  evils 
'  which  loomed  up  before  them.  The  frontier  forced  down  the 
bars  which  had  kept  the  small  and  non-taxpayer  from  the 
ballot  box;  the  workmen  imder  the  impulse  of  their  leaders 
turned  to  political  action.  They  demanded  free  schools,  no 
imprisonment  for  debt,  mechanics'  lien  laws,  and  a  ten-hour 
day;  and  they  opposed  special  favors  in  the  granting  of  charters 
and  monopolies,  the  lottery  system,  the  militia  system  as  then 
in  vogue,  the  auction  system,  and  the  exemption  of  church 
property  from  taxation. 

The  first  workingmen's  party  appeared  in  Philadelphia  in 
1827  or  1828;  but  the  most  important  political  movement 
occurred  in  New  York  City.  The  New  York  party  was  organ-  \^ 
ized  in  the  spring  of  1829,  elected  a  state  assemblyman  in  the  fall, 
was  split  into  three  fragments  within  a  few  months,  put  three 
tickets  in  the  field  in  the  fall  of  1830,  and  disappeared  from  view 
the  following  spring.  The  party,  organized  ostensibly  to  prevent 
an  attempt  to  lengthen  the  working  day,  was  first  committed  by 
an  imperious  leader  to  the  doctrine  of  equal  distribution  of 
wealth  and  the  abolition  of  inheritance;  this  leader  was  soon 
ousted,  carrying  with  him  only  a  handful  of  followers.  Next 
came  Robert  Dale  Owen  and  G.  H.  Evans;  the  latter  was  the  ^ 
editor  of  the  famous  labor  paper.  The  Working  Man's  Advocate. 
These  two  enthusiasts  committed  the  party  to  an  educational 
program.  Free  education  in  boarding  schools,  where  all  dis- 
tinctions of  rank  or  class  were  to  be  eliminated,  was  put  forward 
as  a  panacea  for  all  the  evils  of  which  the  workers  complained. 
Tammany  Hall  was  then,  as  now,  the  powerful  democratic 
organization  of  that  city.    The  leaders  of  that  political  machine 


li 


34    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  I./VBOR 

were  thoroughly  frightened  by  the  results  of  the  election  of  1829; 
and  proceeded  to  destroy  the  workingmen's  organization.  So 
successful  were  they  that  within  a  few  months  Owen  and  Evans 
were  forced  out,  carrying  with  them  a  considerable  fraction  of 
the  entire  party.  Tammany  now  took  up  some  of  the  planks 
in  the  platform  of  the  conservative  and  most  numerous  branch 
of  the  party;  and  in  1831  the  entire  organization  disappeared  in 
thin  air.  The  first  American  labor  movement  was  disrupted  by 
entering  the  political  arena. 

This  ephemeral  labor  party  was  not  entirely  useless.  The 
chief  effects  may  be  briefly  summarized  as  follows:  (a)  the 
passage  of  a  mechanics'  lien  law  by  the  New  York  legislature. 
It  was  clearly  for  the  purpose  of  placating  the  workingmen  that 
this  measure  was  supported  and  pushed  through  by  Tammany. 
y  {b)  The  abolition  of  hnprisonment  for  debt,  by  a  law  passed  in 
the  spring  of  1831.  The  stand  taken  by  the  workingmen's 
party  clearly  hastened  legislative  action  in  this  matter,  (c) 
The  appropriations  for  educational  purposes  in  New  York  City 
increased  very  visibly  at  this  time,  (d)  When,  in  1833-1837,  the 
strong  trade-union  movement  arose,  the  fate  of  the  working- 
men's  party  was  accepted  as  a  conclusive  argimient  against 
direct  political  effort.  Hence  the  trade  unions  kept  aloof  from 
party  politics  and  merely  questioned  candidates  as  to  their 
position  on  measures  which  were  regarded  as  affecting  the 
interests  of  labor.^ 

After  the  disruption  of  the  workingmen's  parties,  a  period  of 
inaction  followed.  But  with  the  triumph  of  Jackson  over  the 
second  United  States  Bank  came  a  flood  of  paper  money  issued 
by  the  rejuvenated  state  or  "-wild  cat"  banks.  With  the  in- 
flation of  the  currency,  prices  went  up  by  leaps  and  bounds; 
but  wages  lagged  behind.  The  wage  earners  were  caught  like 
rats  in  a  trap;  the  rise  of  prices  was  so  rapid  that  escape  to  the 

1  Carlton,  "The  Workingmen's   Party   of   New  York,"  Political  Science 
Quarterly.    Vol.  22:  415. 


THE   PRE -CIVIL   WAR   PERIOD 


35 


frontier  was  impracticable.  Wheat  flour  rose  in  New  York 
City  from  $5  a  barrel  in  1834  to  $12  in  March,  1837;  in  Balti- 
more from  $6.75  on  June  4,  1836,  to  $10.50  on  December  17  of 
the  same  year.  Edward  Atkinson  estimated  that  the  cost  of 
living  to  the  average  workingman  rose  66  per  cent,  from  April, 
1834,  to  October,  1836.  Organization  and  strikes  were  the  only 
available  remedies.  In  1835  a  New  York  daily  newspaper 
observed  that  ''strikes  were  all  the  fashion."  The  membership 
of  the  trades'  unions  multiplied  until  the  ratio  of  organized  to 
unorganized  wage  earners  in  some  cities  was  as  high  or  higher 
than  at  the  present  time.  ''Dues  were  increased  and  donations 
added  to  dues.  Finally,  the  ominous  sign  of  over-organization 
appeared.  Jurisdictional  struggles  began.  Blacksmiths  pro- 
tested against  horse-shoers,  and  hand-loom  weavers  against 
factory  weavers.  These  were  not  settled  when  the  panic  of 
1837  stopped  everything,  and  the  trades'  unions  disappeared 
when  the  wage  earners'  employment  ceased."  The  labor 
movement  of  this  period  of  rising  prices  was  premature.  Finan- 
cial conditions,  not  industrial  evolution,  were  responsible  for 
the  rocket-like  rise  of  the  labor  organizations  at  this  time. 

The  period  1834- 183  7  was  one  of  extraordinary  trade-union 
activity.  General  Trades'  Unions  were  formed  in  the  large 
cities.  New  York  and  Philadelphia  had  strong  organizations. 
A  contemporary  newspaper  states  that  the  Trades'  Union  of 
Philadelphia  consisted  in  1836  "of  forty-eight  trade  societies  or 
associations,  sovereign  and  independent  in  themselves,  but 
bound  by  ties  of  honor  and  interest  to  support  and  assist  each 
other  in  cases  of  aggression  or  danger."  Two  of  these  societies 
boasted  of  a  membership  of  over  nine  hundred  each,  and  four  of 
more  than  seven  hundred  each.  Among  the  trade  unions  or 
labor  societies  belonging  to  the  Trades'  Union  were  the  Society 
of  Journeymen  Tailors,  the  Society  of  Cordwainers,  the  Jour- 
neymen Printers,  the  Society  of  Journeymen  Hatters,  and  the 
Society  of  Cotton  Spinners.    A  "  Society  of  Female  Operatives," 


^ : 


li 


36    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

having  a  membership  of  about  four  hundred,  is  also  reported 
from  Philadelphia.  This  organization  was  similar  to  other 
trade  societies.  The  Boston  Trades'  Union,  on  July  4,  1834, 
had  two  thousand  men  in  a  procession.  The  printers  organized 
societies  in  not  less  than  twenty-four  cities  in  the  decade  of  the 
thirties.  Catalogs  of  "rats"  or  non-union  men  are  reported  to 
have  been  occasionally  published  by  the  organized  printers; 
and  picketing  was  not  unknown.  In  1836  the  New  York  Gen- 
eral Trades'  Union  complained  that  the  Employing  Leather 
Dressers  had  declared  for  what  we  now  call  the  "open  shop," 
and  were  refusing  to  hire  men  belonging  to  a  labor  organization. 
This  was  denoimced  as  *'an  attempted  violation  of  the  consti- 
tutional and  natural  rights  of  American  citizens."  Many  of  the 
methods  used  today  by  organized  labor  were  employed  by  the 
ephemeral  and  premature  unions  of  the  thirties. 

Employers'  associations  were  formed  to  counteract  the  power 
of  these  newly  organized  unions.  Li  New  York  City  the  cur- 
riers and  leather  dealers  and  the  employing  leather  dressers 
were  knit  into  employers'  associations.  Members  of  these 
associations  inveighed  against  labor  organizations  in  a  manner 
quite  up  to  date.  The  unions  were  held  to  ''invade  the  rights 
of  employers"  and  to  "compromise  the  rights  of  unorganized 
labor."  *'lf  we  desire  to  alter  the  whole  genius  of  American 
society,  —  to  resolve  it  into  classes  separated  by  barriers  ahnost 
impassable,  and  to  condemn  the  largest  portion  to  lasting  inferi- 
ority—we should  certainly  recommend  some  such  expedient 
as  trade  unions."  These  words  sound  as  if  they  were  written 
only  yesterday  by  a  member  of  an  employers'  association 
hostile  to  organized  labor. 

The  following  analysis  of  the  forces  which  caused  this  remark- 
able outburst  of  activity  on  the  part  of  labor  organizations  is 
from  the  pen  of  Professor  Commons.  "But  it  was  not  the  cost 
of  living  that  first  demanded  attention  —  it  was  the  hours  of 
labor  and  over-work.    The  feverish  prosperity  of  bank  inflation 


THE  PRE-CIVIL  WAR  PERIOD  37 

and  the  taste  of  unusual  profits  enticed  employers  to  drive  their 
workmen;  and  the  long  hours  of  labor  which  were  welcomed  as 
a  boon  in  a  time  of  depression  became  unbearable  in  time  of 
prosperity.  .  .  .  The  struggle  centered  in  Philadelphia,  where 
the  trades'  union  entered  upon  a  career  of  success  and  enthusi- 
asm. It  had  the  support  of  physicians,  lawyers,  merchants, 
and  politicians,  and  the  year  1835  is  memorable  as  the  turning 
point  from  which  dated  the  establishment  in  this  country  of  the 
ten-hour  system."  ^  The  strikes  of  1836  were  chiefly  for 
higher  wages  and  were   the  direct  result  of  rising  prices. 

The  pioneer  national  organization  of  wage  earners  on  Ameri- 
can soil  was  the  National  Trades'  Union  which  first  met  in  the 
city  of*  New  York  in  August,  1834.  At  this  time  it  was  esti- 
mated that  there  were  26,250  members  of  American  trades' 
unions. 

In  New  York  and  Brooklyn  .  .  11,500  In  Baltimore 3»Soo 

Philadelphia 6,000  Washington   500 

Boston 4,000  Newark 750 

At  the  first  convention  about  thirty  delegates  were  present. 
The  second  convention  also  met  in  New  York  City,  and  was 
attended  by  forty-eight  delegates.  The  third  convention  met 
in  1836  in  Philadelphia.  A  fourth  convention  was  called  to  meet 
in  1837 ;  and  it  is  probable  that  a  few  delegates  attended.  With 
the  panic,  the  national  organization  passed  out  of  existence. 
The  National  Trades'  Union  was  a  union  of  local  unions  and  of 
the  central  trades'  unions  in  different  cities.  It  began  merely 
as  an  advisory  body  with  no  disciplinary  powers;  but  in  1836  the 
constitution  of  the  body  was  so  changed  as  to  allow  it  to  exer- 
cise some  authority  over  the  bodies  united  in  the  national 
organization. 

The  constitution  of  1834  stated  that  the  objects  of  the  Union 
were  to  advance  the  moral,  intellectual,  and  pecuniary  interests 
of  the  workers,  to  disseminate  information,  to  promote  the 

*  Documentary  History  of  American  Industrial  Society.    Vol.  5  :  33-34« 


4 


« 


3S    HISTORY    AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

establishment  of  trades'  unions,  and  to  harmonize  the  efforts 
of  the  productive  classes.    In  1835  provisions  were  inserted 
requiring  each  subordinate  union  to  contribute,  to  the  national 
body,  two  cents  per  month  per  member.    Another  clause  de- 
clared all  acts  of  the  national  body  binding  upon  the  various 
unions  accepting  the  constitution.    *'  In  1834  it  had  been  a  con- 
vention to  promote  agitation,  in  1836  it  had  become  a  federation 
to  support  strikes."    The  extreme  pressure  of  rapidly  rising 
prices  caused  a  rapid  evolution  of  function.    In  1834  resolu- 
tions were  adopted  favoring  "an  Equal,  Universal,  Republican 
system  of  Education,"  demanding  that  the  public  lands  be  left 
open  to  actual  settlers,  deploring  the  evil  condition  of  "male 
and  female  children  employed  in  the  cotton  and  woolen*  manu- 
factories in  this  country,"  and  opposing  special  privileges  for  a 
*' favored  few."    In  the  convention  of  1836  the  following  com- 
mittees   were    appointed:    trades'    union,    education,    state 
prison  labor,  factory  system,  female  labor,  and  on  unfinished 
business.    The  titles  of  these  committees  are  significant  as 
indicating  the  topics  considered  to  be  of  great  importance  to  the 
wage  earners  in  1836.    A  committee  was  also  appointed  on  the 
ten-hour  system  on  government  works.    This  committee  in  a 
long  report  declared  that  the  memorials  of  the  ten-hour  com- 
mittee appointed  in   1835  were  treated  contemptuously  by 
Congress.    It  closed  by  recommending  united  action  on  the 
part  of  all  trades'  unions  in  requesting  the  President  of  the 
United  States  to  establish  a  ten-hour  day  for  all  government 
employees.    In  1840  President  Van  Buren  issued  such  an  order. 
In   1836  at  least  five  trades  had   formed  national  trade 
unions,  —  that    is,    formed    national    organizations   within    a 
single  trade.    These  trades  were  the  cordwainers,  the  comb- 
makers,  the  carpenters,  the  weavers,  and  the  printers.    Other 
organizations  recognized  the  desirability  of  national  organiza- 
tion.   The  printers  held  at  least  two  annual  meetings,  in  1836 
and  1837. 


THE  PRE-CIVIL  WAR   PERIOD 


39 


The  National  Trades'  Union  and  the  national  trade  unions 
of  the  thirties  were  national  unions  at  least  three  decades  ahead 
of  their  time.  The  railway  and  the  telegraph  had  not  yet 
extended  the  market  area.  Competition  over  wide  areas  was  as 
yet  little  felt.  Only  the  extraordinary  increase  in  the  cost  of 
living  in  the  years  immediately  preceding  the  panic  of  1837 
could  bring  into  life  even  an  ephemeral  national  organization. 
As  soon  as  that  pressure  was  removed  the  national  organizations 
disappeared  and  were  soon  forgotten. 

Much  antagonism  between  employers  and  employees  and 
between  the  rich  and  the  poor  was  generated  during  this 
extraordinary  epoch.  A  class  consciousness  which  is  scarcely 
exceeded  in  recent  decades  flashed  into  view  during  this  spec- 
tacular struggle  for  higher  wages.  In  one  address  to  a  labor 
society  in  1835  is  found  the  following  gem:  "Already  has  grasp- 
ing avarice  and  monopoly  shorn  us  of  many  of  our  rights,  already 
has  aristocracy  reared  its  hideous  form  in  our  country,  and  is 
making  rapid  strides  toward  enslaving  us  forever."  The  Work- 
ing Man's  Advocate  had  as  one  of  its  aims  opposition  to  monop- 
olies and  all  class  exemptions.  The  associations  of  employers 
of  the  thirties  were  practically  as  bitter  toward  trade  imions  as 
any  that  exist  today.  For  example,  one  resolved  that  the  meth- 
ods of  the  unionists  were  "most  obnoxious,  coercive,  and 
detrimental  to  the  peace,  prosperity,  and  best  interests  of  the 
community."  Another  resolved  "that  the  Trades'  Union  is 
the  growth  of  Monarchical  Government,  and  ill  adapted  to 
our  Republican  Institutions." 

The  labor  press  was  a  very  important  element  in  the  labor 
movement  of  this  period.  The  American  Bureau  of  Industrial 
Research  has  found  that  at  least  sixty-eight  labor  papers  were 
started  or  projected  in  the  period  1820-1837.  These  papers  were 
published  in  many  different  cities  and  towns  scattered  over  the 
North,  such  as  New  York;  Philadelphia;  Boston;  Woodstock, 
Vermont;  Wihnington,  Delaware;  Alexander,  New  York,  and 


i 


i  I 


40    fflSTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  Of  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

Indianapolis,  Indiana.  In  January,  1828,  in  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia, was  published  the  first  workingmen's  paper,  The 
Mechanics'  Free  Press.  The  Working  Man's  Advocate^  the 
New  York  publication,  issued  its  first  number  on  October  31, 
1829. 

A  short  period  of  rising  prices  dates  from  1843.  A  few  ^'  spo- 
radic" unions  were  called  into  existence,  and  here  and  there 
minor  strikes  occurred.  For  the  first  time  in  American  history 
the  factory  and  the  factory  operative  began  to  figure  in  labor 
disputes.  Soon,  however,  the  level  of  prices  began  to  move 
downward,  and  labor  agitations  and  organization  assumed 
modified  forms.  From  about  1845  to  185 1  purely  trade-union 
methods  were  rarely  employed;  and  the  doctrine  of  class  har- 
mony was  persistently  preached.  The  main  points  in  the  labor 
demands  were  not  wages  and  hours.  The  humanitarian  element 
was  in  control;  labor  unionism  and  humanitarianism  were 
curiously  mixed.  Various  Labor  Congresses  and  Working- 
men's  Associations  were  formed;  and  many  organizations  of 
women  workers  came  into  being.  Certain  humanitarian  leaders 
like  Horace  Greeley,  Brisbane,  Dana,  and  Ripley,  who  were  not 
of  the  wage-earning  class,  were  prominent  in  the  various  organi- 
zations. The  New  England  Workingmen's  Association  was 
organized  in  the  spring  of  1845.  Its  object  was  declared  to  be 
"union  for  power,  power  to  bless  humanity."  In  New  York 
the  National  Reform  Association  was  formed  in  1844.  This 
body  wished  to  restore  man  to  his  ** natural  right  to  land."  The 
first  Industrial  Congress  convened  in  New  York  City,  October 
12,  1845.  George  H.  Evans,  editor  of  The  Working  Man's 
Advocate  of  the  early  thirties,  and  then  joint  editor  of  another 
paper  of  the  same  name,  was  secretary.  The  Female  Labor 
Reform  Association  of  Lowell  sent  a  representative.  The 
Congress  recommended  the  formation  of  three  organizations; 
(i)  Of  "pure  labor,"  to  be  called  the  "Industrial  Brotherhood." 
No  employers,  overseers,  or  superintendents  were  to  be  admitted 


THE  PRE-CI\'IL  WAR   PERIOD 


41 


to  membership.  Farmers  were  to  be  eligible.  (2)  "Young 
America,"  all  friends  of  the  "just"  rights  of  labor  might  join. 
(3)  The  "Industrial  Sisterhood"  was  to  include  all  females 
who  desired  to  unite  in  "the  righteous  cause."  Commenting 
on  the  work  of  this  Congress,  Greeley  said  that  a  true  Indus- 
trial Congress  represented  all  classes.  A  second  congress  was 
held  in  1847,  ^Jid  a  third  in  1850. 

Many  workingmen's  local  associations  of  this  period  estab- 
lished libraries  and  reading  rooms.  In  Massachusetts  the 
agitation  for  a  ten-hour  working  day  began  in  1845,  and  con- 
tinued until  1852,  when  a  compromise  of  sixty-six  hours  per 
week  was  effected.  Much  attention  was  paid  to  the  subject  of 
"land  monopoly"  by  various  associations  and  congresses.  The 
Working  Man's  Advocate  of  this  period,  instead  of  urging  free 
public  education,  demanded  that  each  man  or  woman  be  allowed 
to  purchase  in  the  future  only  a  sufficient  amount  of  land  "for 
a  reasonable  sized  farm."  Land  monopoly,  based  upon  educa- 
tional privileges,  was  held  to  be  the  fundamental  cause  of  the 
evils  of  which  the  workingmen  complained.  The  movement 
which  finally  culminated  in  the  Homestead  Act  dates  back  to 
this  period.  There  were  few  indications  in  the  "golden  era" 
(183  7- 1 85  7)  in  American  industrial  history  of  the  existence  of 
class  consciousness,  or  of  the  idea  of  the  solidarity  of  the  wage 
earners,  —  much  less  than  in  the  period  1834  to  1837.  In  the 
decade  of  the  fifties,  however,  indications  are  not  lacking  of  the 
divorce  of  unionism  from  humanitarianism .  * '  Pure  and  simple ' ' 
trade  unionism  began  to  appear.  A  magazine  in  1853  stated: 
"  Since  our  last,  the  expenses  of  living  have  been  somewhat  in- 
creased at  nearly  every  point.  The  prices  of  sundry  articles  of 
general  consumption  have,  it  is  true,  been  somewhat  reduced, 
but  most  other  avenues  of  expenditures  have  been  widened. 
Labor  of  all  kinds  demands  higher  rewards,  and  in  almost  every 
branch  of  industry,  organization,  combinations,  and  in  some 
cases  'strikes,'  have  been  resorted  to  in  order  to  obtain  the 


m 


lit 


42    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

desired  advance/'  ^  In  the  autumn  of  1853  an  attempt  was 
made  to  federate  the  unions  of  New  York  City.  Only  working- 
men  were  entitled  to  act  as  delegates  to  the  central  body. 

All  the  labor  movements  of  the  pre-Civil  War  period  were 
ephemeral  and  soon  disintegrated.  The  chief  reason  for  the  lack 
of  permanence  may  be  summarized  under  five  heads:  (a)  A 
strong  and  permanent  labor  organization  is  not  to  be  anticipated 
while  much  practically  free  land  can  be  obtained,  and  while  it 
is  possible  for  the  efficient  and  ambitious  employee  to  pass 
readily  to  the  position  of  employer.  Under  such  conditions 
class  consciousness  and  the  feeling  of  solidarity  of  interest  among 
the  workers  do  not  readily  develop  to  a  sufficient  degree  to  insure 
strong  and  permanent  union  organizations,  (b)  The  attain- 
ment of  many  of  the  more  moderate  demands  of  the  labor  party 
and  labor  press,  such  as  a  mechanics'  lien  law,  abolition  of 
imprisonment  for  debt,  and  increased  taxation  for  the  public 
schools,  naturally  reduced  the  number  of  active  unionists  and 
diminished  the  ardor  of  those  remaining  in  the  organizations. 
(c)  Coupled  with  this  was  the  rising  tide  of  the  slavery  agitation, 
which  drew  the  attention  from  the  demands  of  the  workers  and 
absorbed  much  of  the  vigor  of  the  humanitarian  leaders,  (d) 
The  stigma  of  infidelity  which  became  attached  to  the  working- 
men's  party  was  a  serious  handicap  to  that  form  of  labor  agi- 
tation, (e)  The  communistic  movement  was  also  an  important 
factor  in  weakening  and  dissipating  the  strength  of  the  various 
labor  organizations. 

Labor  and  Humanitarianism.  During  the  unique  and 
"yeasty"  period  from  1820  to  the  panic  of  1857,  in  which  fac- 
tories and  industrial  cities  were  developing  and  the  canal  and 
the  railway  were  becoming  valued  transportation  agents,  the 
labor  movement  was  only  one  of  several  movements  and  agita- 
tions.    During  this  period  the  theory  of  protection  was  given 

*  Hunt's  Magazine,  April,  1853.  See  Documentary  History  of  American 
Industrial  Society.      Vol.  8:335. 


THE   PRE-CIVIL  WAR   PERIOD 


43 


practical  application  in  several  tariffs,  particularly  those  of  1828 
and  1832,  but  the  movement  toward  high  tariffs  was  checked  tem- 
porarily by  the  rising  tide  of  free  trade,  of  which  the  tariff  of 
1846  is  a  result ;  the  stream  of  immigration  broadened ;  the  suffrage 
was  extended ;  imprisonment  for  debt  was  practically  abolished ; 
and  various  humanitarian  movements  of  a  permanent  or  an 
ephemeral  nature  appeared,  ranging  from  communism  to  free 
tax-supported  schools,  and  from  religious  revivals  and  temperance 
movements  to  the  abolition  movement  and  agitation  for  prison 
betterment.  In  this  era  the  West,  the  workingmen,  the  cities, 
and  the  manufacturing  interests  first  became  important  factors 
in  defining  the  political  and  economic  progress  of  the  nation. 

A  progressive  age,  an  epoch  in  which  the  new  is  grappling  in  a 
death  struggle  with  the  old,  is  ever  prolific  of  peculiar  and  fan- 
tastic movements,  creeds,  and  parties,  which  soon  die  out,  but 
which  usually  leave  some  lasting  imprint  upon  the  dominant 
characteristics  of  the  time.  These  movements  spring  up  and 
run  their  short  course  alongside  of  the  great  and  permanent 
advance  movements  of  the  age.  This  period  of  thirty  or  forty 
years  is  characterized  by  wide-spread  agitation  for  social  better- 
ment. Among  the  significant  forces  which  were  at  the  fountain- 
head  of  the  labor  and  other  movements  were  the  panics  of  1819 
and  1837,  the  gradual  introduction  of  labor-saving  devices,  the 
extension  of  the  market  area,  and  the  inherited  belief  in  the 
equality  of  men  and  in  the  right  of  all  to  liberty  and  the  pursuit 
of  happiness. 

Like  the  labor  movement  of  this  era,  the  various  concomitant 
humanitarian  agitations  may  be  separated  into  two  groups.  In 
the  decade  and  a  half  from  1825  to  1840  occur  agitations 
for  educational  advance,  prison  reform,  abolition  of  imprison- 
ment for  debt,  temperance  crusades,  organization  of  charitable 
societies,  and  the  communistic  movement  led  by  Robert  Owen. 
This  period  was  preeminently  a  practical  one;  the  decade  of  the 
forties  was,  on  the  other  hand,  in  the  main  idealistic.    This 


I 


44    HISTORY  AND  P'ROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

characterization  fits  the  labor  movements  as  well  as  the  himian- 
itarian  movements  of  the  period.  The  decade  of  the  forties  has 
been  called  the  ''hot  air"  period  and  an  era  of  ** unbounded 
loquacity";  it  is  associated  with  Fourierism,  transcendentalism, 
abolitionism,  and  the  Brook  Farm  experiment.  The  labor 
movement  of  the  era  preceding  the  Civil  War  was  not  an  iso- 
lated phenomenon ;  it  was  very  closely  related  to  other  agitations. 
The  working  people  were  also  important  factors  in  establishing 
our  free  school  system,  in  abolishing  the  practice  of  imprisoning 
debtors,  and  in  urging  land  reform. 

Men  are  prone  to  overestimate  the  economic  and  social  evils 
of  the  present  and  to  underestimate  those  of  eras  which  lie  behind 
the  civilization  of  today.  We  of  the  present  are  more  or  less 
familiar  with  the  vast  amount  of  suffering  and  criminality  which 
followed  the  severe  crises  of  1873,  1893,  and  1907-1908;  but 
the  relative  amount  of  hardship  suffered  as  the  inevitable  conse- 
quence of  those  of  1819  and  1837  is  scarcely  less.  During  the 
period  of  depression  from  1816  to  1822  or  1826,  in  different  cities 
public-spirited  citizens  served  on  committees  to  relieve  distress, 
soup  houses  were  opened,  and  an  attempt  was  made  to  discover 
the  causes  of  pauperism.  The  old  superficial  explanation  that 
intemperance  was  the  source  of  the  evils  was  quite  readily 
and  generally  accepted.  Professor  McMaster  summarizes  the 
situation  as  viewed  by  the  invesrigators:  *'A  careful  examina- 
tion of  the  reports  on  the  condition  of  the  poor  for  the  years 
past  (1808-1817)  revealed  the  alarming  fact  that  paupers  were 
increasing  more  rapidly  than  population.  Fifteen  thousand, 
or  one-seventh  of  the  population  of  the  city,  were  actually  living 
on  charity.  About  one-sixteenth  of  them  were  worthy  persons 
reduced  to  poverty  by  the  depressed  state  of  commerce.  Another 
sixteenth  were  paupers  from  a  variety  of  causes.  But  seven- 
eighths  were  people  reduced  to  poverty  by  the  inordinate  use  of 
liquor."  Niks'  Register  is  the  authority  for  a  statement  that 
in  the  county  of  Chester,  located  in  a  rich  and  populous  section 


THE  PRE-CIVIL  WAR  PERIOD 


4S 


m 


of  Pennsylvania,  the  number  of  paupers  increased  from  one  in 
every  345  inhabitants  in  18 10  to  one  in  every  138  in  1820.  In 
Philadelphia  in  1820  the  ratio  between  paupers  and  the  total 
population  was  estimated  at  slightly  more  than  one  to  fifty.  In 
the  early  twenties  the  increase  of  juvenile  crime  and  in  the 
number  of  child  vagrants  attracted  much  attention,  and  was  a 
factor  in  causing  the  demand  for  free  schools. 

A  New  York  City  paper  published  in  1835  declared  that 
6,069  criminals  and  vagrants  were  committed  to  the  local  jails 
in  1833.  The  number  of  public  paupers  for  the  same  year  was 
24,326.  About  one-eighth  of  the  total  population  was  included 
in  the  three  classes.  The  amount  raised  by  taxation  for  the 
purpose  of  maintaining  this  publicly  supported  army  was  esti- 
mated to  be  about  $300,000. 

The  winter  of  1838  was  an  unusually  severe  one;  and  the 
effects  of  the  panic  were  such  as  to  cause  much  unemployment. 
'There  never  had  been  such  a  time  of  suffering  in  New  York 
before,  and  there  has  not  been  since. "  ^  Horace  Greeley  was 
a  faithful  worker  on  a  citizen's  committee  appointed  to  relieve 
the  suffering  of  the  poor  during  that  awful  winter.  His  experi- 
ence in  this  connection  produced  the  frame  of  mind  which  led 
to  his  adoption  of  the  principles  of  the  Utopian  French  socialist, 
Fourier.  In  1844  Parke  Godwin,  a  Fourierist  socialist,  painted 
a  pen  picture  of  the  contrast  between  the  luxurious  rich  and  the 
wretched  poor  of  the  cities,  which  greatly  resembles  the  contrast 
between  the  Fifth  Avenue  of  today  and  the  slums  of  any  great 
city  at  the  present  moment.  The  presence  of  vast  quantities 
of  unworked,  but  fertile,  land  did  not  insure  a  decent  living  for 
all.  The  working  people  drawn  into  the  cities  and  the  factory 
towns  saw  and  felt  the  pinch  of  poverty.  Contrasts  and  evils 
loomed  before  them;  and  with  the  child-like  faith  of  Utopia 
builders  they  looked  impatiently  for  a  panacea  for  the  ills  which 
afflicted  them. 

*  Written  in  18;  2. 


46    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

Imprisonment  for  debt  was  a  practice  which  fell  with  peculiar 
severity  upon  those  who  were  close  to  the  poverty  line,  that  is, 
upon  the  wage  earners.  In  1830  the  estimated  number  of 
individuals  imprisoned  for  debt  was,  in  Massachusetts,  3,000; 
in  New  York,  10,000;  in  Pennsylvania,  7,000;  and  in  Maryland, 
3,oco.  At  that  time  the  practice  had  been  abolished  in  two 
states,  Ohio  and  Kentucky.  Persons  were  imprisoned  for 
small  as  well  as  for  large  debts;  for  debts  which  the  debtor  was 
unable  to  pay  as  well  as  for  debts  contracted  for  the  purpose  of 
defrauding  the  creditor.  In  one  city  forty  cases  were  recorded 
in  which  the  simi  total  of  the  debts  was  only  $23. 40 J,  an  aver- 
age of  less  than  sixty  cents  each.  In  some  states  the  debtor 
was  not  only  denied  the  right  to  an  opportunity  to  earn  wages 
in  order  to  pay  his  debts;  but  he  was  obliged,  if  he  was  an  honest 
debtor,  to  depend  upon  charity  for  the  necessities  of  life, — 
food,  clothing,  and  fuel.  Local  humane  societies  often  kept 
debtors  from  freezing  or  starving.  A  criminal  was  given  greater 
consideration  in  regard  to  food  and  fuel  than  was  accorded  the 
imprisoned  debtor.  Nearly  all  the  resolutions  adopted  by  the 
numerous  mass  meetings  of  workingmen  held  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  decade  of  the  twenties  and  the  first  half  of  the  thirties 
contain  clauses  demanding  the  abolition  of  imprisonment  for 
debt.  The  labor  journals  of  that  period  were  uniformly  opposed 
to  the  pracdce.  The  ephemeral  labor  parties  made  imprison- 
ment for  debt  a  plank  in  their  platform.  Tammany  became 
interested  in  this  reform  as  soon  as  it  saw  the  necessity  of  getting 
the  labor  vote.  In  1831  an  act  was  passed  in  New  York,  abol- 
ishing imprisonment  for  debt  except  in  cases  of  fraud.  In  other 
Northern  states  the  workingmen  carried  on  an  active  agitation 
in  regard  to  this  matter.  By  1840  imprisonment  for  debt  had 
been  abolished  in  pracdcally  every  Northern  state.  This 
reform  was  accomplished  by  means  of  the  steady,  effective 
pressure  of  the  newly  enfranchised  and  rapidly  growing  laboring 
class,  aided  and  led  by  the  humanitarian  element.    As  has  been 


THE   PRE-CIVIL  WAR   PERIOD 


47 


stated,  the  mechanics'  lien  law,  which  made  the  wage  earner  a 
preferred  creditor  of  his  employer,  was  pushed  through  the 
New  York  legislature  in  order  to  gain  the  vote  of  the  work- 
ingmen.   This  legislation  soon  spread  to  other  states. 

The  Free  School  System  and  the  Wage  Earners.  The  first 
great  panacea  of  the  organized  wage  earners  was  free  and  equal 
education.  For  years  influential  and  learned  men  had  been 
preaching  the  doctrine  that  the  uneducated  must  ever  remain 
in  a  degraded  caste.  "Equality  among  men  results  only  from 
education  " ; "  the  educated  man  is  a  good  citizen,  the  uneducated 
an  undesirable  member  of  the  body  politic. "  These  were  the 
oft-repeated  phrases  which  came  from  many  sources  to  the 
anxious  wage  earners.  Suddenly  the  disturbed  mass  of  toiling 
humanity  was  touched  by  the  monotonous  repetition.  Free, 
equal,  practical,  republican  education  became  the  shibboleth 
of  the  workers.  One  of  the  radical  resolutions  upon  this  topic 
was  adopted  at  a  meeting  of  workingmen  held  in  New  York 
City  in  November,  1829:  "Resolved,  that  the  most  grievous 
species  of  inequality  is  that  produced  by  inequality  in  education, 
and  that  a  national  system  of  education  and  guardianship  which 
shall  furnish  to  all  children  of  the  land,  equal  food,  clothing, 
and  instruction  at  the  public  expense  is  the  only  effectual  remedy 
for  this  and  for  almost  every  species  of  injustice.  Resolved, 
that  all  other  modes  of  reform  are,  compared  to  this  particular, 
inefficient  or  trifling. "  Practically  every  workingmen 's  meeting, 
from  Albany  and  Boston  on  the  north  to  Wilmington  and 
Charleston  on  the  south,  took  up  the  cry.  Speeches,  editorials, 
and  resolutions  galore,  and  planks  in  local  workingmen's  party 
platforms,  are  recorded  of  the  period  from  1828  to  about  1833. 
Horace  Mann,  Henr>'  Barnard,  James  G.  Carter,  Robert  Dale 
Owen,  George  H.  Evans,  and  others  directed  the  movement; 
but  the  potent  push  came  from  the  firm  demand  of  an  argused 
and  insistent  wage-earning  class  armed  with  the  ballot.  The 
rural  districts,  employers,  and  men  of  wealth  were  rarely  favor- 


r 


48    fflSTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

able  to  the  tax-supported  school;  and  often  their  voices  were 
raised  against  it  in  bitter  protest  or  stinging  invective.  A 
careful  study  of  the  development  of  the  public  school  system 
in  different  states  —  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  Vermont, 
Rhode  Island,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Ohio  —  and 
the  utter  lack  of  a  free  school  system  in  the  slave-holding  South, 
confirm  these  general  statements.  The  wage  earners  were 
touched  with  the  enthusiasm  of  a  Utopian  dreamer.  Given  free 
and  universal  education,  and,  they  firmly  believed,  all  social 
ills  would  vanish  as  the  mists  before  the  morning  sun.  A  mis- 
taken idea  it  has  proven  to  be;  but  it  was,  nevertheless,  potent 
and  compelling  in  that  formative  period  of  our  industrial 
history. 

The  direct  influence  of  the  wage  earners  in  the  establishment 
of  free  schools  is  perhaps  most  clearly  shown  in  Rhode  Island 
and  New  York.  In  that  small  and  unique  New  England  state, 
Rhode  Island,  before  1820,  it  was  held  that  to  compel  a  citizen 
to  educate  his  children  would  be  an  invasion  of  his  sacred  rights 
as  a  citizen  of  the  commonwealth.  The  sentiment  of  the  influ- 
ential class  was  distinctly  adverse  to  a  tax-supported  school 
system.  Rhode  Island  was  suddenly  transformed  from  an 
agricultural  and  commercial  to  a  predominately  manufacturing 
state.  A  bitter,  but  successful,  struggle  for  the  extension  of  the 
suffrage  followed;  and  within  a  decade  after  its  conclusion  the 
free  tax-supported  school  became  a  generally  accepted  institu- 
tion. The  workingman's  ballot  was  in  no  small  measure  re- 
sponsible for  this  sudden  and  complete  reversal  of  policy.  In 
New  York,  after  a  year's  experience  with  a  school  system  entirely 
supported  by  taxation,  the  legislature,  in  response  to  the  de- 
mands of  the  opponents  of  system,  submitted  the  question  of  a 
repeal  of  the  law  to  the  voters  of  the  state.  Only  seventeen 
out  of  a  total  of  fifty-nine  counties  voted  against  the  repeal  of 
the  law  and  for  the  free  school  system;  but  the  majority  in 
these  counties  was  so  large  that  the  repeal  was  defeated.    In 


THE  PRE-CIVIL  WAR  PERIOD 


J 


49 


the  seventeen  counties  were  located  the  more  important  cities 
of  the  state  —  including  New  York,  Brooklyn,  Albany,  Buffalo, 
Schenectady,  and  Syracuse.  The  voice  of  the  cities  and  of  the 
workingmen  was  unmistakably  in  favor  of  the  tax-supported 
school  system. 

Land  Reform  and  the  Wage  Earners.  After  the  panic  of  1837 
the  discontented  and  suffering  workers  pushed  another  pana- 
cea into  the  foreground.  Free  homesteads  for  actual  settlers, 
became  a  slogan.  If  each  head  of  a  family  is  given  the  right  to 
acquire  a  quarter  section  of  virgin  soil,  all  will  be  well.  Again, 
the  wage  earners  play  no  small  part  in  giving  the  nation  another 
important  piece  of  legislation  —  the  Homestead  Act.  Land 
reformers  —  humanitarians  —  blazed  the  way  toward  this  act; 
but  the  workingmen  of  the  cities  early  looked  with  favor  upon 
free  land  for  homesteads.  The  Working  Man's  Advocate  gives 
an  account  of  a  meeting  held  in  New  York  City  in  January, 
1845.  0^^  of  th^  resolutions  adopted  declared  ''that  in  our 
opinion  the  best  method  of  putting  an  end  to  Feudalism  and 
Land  Monopoly  in  this  State  would  be  for  the  Legislature  to 
pass  a  general  law  limiting  the  quantity  of  land"  which  one  per- 
son could  own.  Greeley  pointed  out  two  ways  in  which  the 
city  laborer  would  benefit:  {a)  Some  competitors  would  be 
drawn  to  new  lands,  thus  tending  to  raise  wages,  or  at  least  to 
prevent  lowering  the  rate  of  wages.  (6)  There  would  be  an 
increasing  demand  for  the  products  of  manufactories  and  work- 
shops, thus  increasing  the  demand  for  labor. 

Employers  of  labor  were  favorably  impressed  by  the  latter 
effect,  but  unfavorably  by  the  former.  Their  attitude  would 
largely  be  determined  by  the  relative  importance  of  the  two. 
After  the  potato  famine  in  Ireland  and  the  revolutionary  dis- 
turbances of  1848,  the  rapid  influx  of  immigrants  afforded  a 
supply  of  labor  which  would  not  be  seriously  drained  by  free 
homesteads.  The  gradual  development  of  the  factory  system 
and  the  expansion  of  the  railway  network  showed  the  need  of 


50     HISTORY   AND   PROBLEMS   OF   ORGANIZED   LABOR 

wide  markets  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  possibility  of  economi- 
cally reaching  distant  markets  on  the  other.  To  carve  farms  out 
of  the  virgin  Western  wilderness  meant  the  creation  of  a  demand 
for  the  products  of  factory  and  mine.  This  shifting  of  the 
economic  center  of  gravity  caused  many  of  the  manufacturers 
and  employers  of  labor  to  align  themselves  with  the  land  re- 
formers and  the  workingmen  in  demanding  the  rapid  extension 
of  the  small  farm  system  with  individual  ownership.  The 
South  with  its  plantation  system  and  its  slave  economy  stood 
as  a  mighty  obstacle.  The  platform  of  the  Republican  party 
in  i860  contained  a  plank  in  favor  of  "the  free  homestead 
policy";  and  when  the  Southern  Senators  and  Representatives 
left  the  halls  of  Congress  at  the  opening  of  the  Civil  War, 
the  famous  Homestead  Act  became  a  law. 

"The  Republican  party  .  .  .  was  a  homestead  party.  On 
this  point  its  position  was  identical  with  that  of  the  working- 
men."^  A  study  of  the  vote  in  the  first  election  in  which  the 
Republican  party  was  a  factor  shows  clearly  that  it  flourished 
in  sections  where  industrial  progress  was  considerable.  Practi- 
cally all  the  counties  on  the  line  of  the  Erie  Canal  and  the  south- 
ern shore  of  Lake  Erie  went  Republican  in  the  election  of  1856. 
The  important  exceptions  were  Erie  County,  in  which  Buffalo 
is  located,  and  three  counties  in  Ohio  bordering  on  the  lake. 
Allegheny  County,  including  the  city  of  Pittsburg,  was  carried 
by  the  Republicans.  All  New  England  went  Republican.  The 
Republican  party  was  strong  wherever  the  New  England  man 
had  migrated  and  along  the  highways  of  commerce  and  com- 
munication between  the  upper  Mississippi  valley  and  the 
Atlantic  seaboard. 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

Commons,  Documentary  History  of  American  Industrial  Society. 
Vols.  5,  6,  7,  and  8.  Contains  reprints  of  many  important  labor  docu- 
ments of  the  period. 

*  Commons,  Political  Science  Quarterly.    Vol.  24  :  488. 


n 


THE   PRE-CIVIL   WAR    PERIOD  rj 

Commons,    "Labor    Organization    and    Labor    Politics,"     Quarierh 
Journal  of  Economics.     Vol.  21:  323-329. 

Commons,  "The  American  Shoemakers,"  ibid.     Vol   24  •  39-84 
Commons    "Horace  Greeley  and  the  Working  Class  Origin  of  the 
Republican  Party,"  PolUical  Science  Quarterly.     Vol.  24  :  468-48^ 
IT    ,"1'2' .   ^'T"^'  Influences  upon  Educational  Progress  in  the 

I\0.    221.       (1908.) 

Carlton,  "The  Workingmen's  Party  of  New  York  City,"  Political 
Science  Quarterly.     Vol.  22  :  401-415. 

Carlton,  "An    American   Utopia,"  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics. 
Vol.  24 :  428-433. 

Carlton,    "AboUtion    of    Imprisonment    for    Debt,"     Vale   Review. 
Vol.  17:  339-444. 

Ely,  The  Labor  Movement  in  America.     Chs   2  and  i 

McNeill,  The  Labor  Movement 

Woollen,  "Labor  Troubles  between  1834  and  1837,"   Yale  Review. 

vol.  I  .  oi— 100. 

McMaster    A  History  of  the  People  of  the  United  States.     Vol.  4. 
Ch.  37,  and  Vol.  5,  Ch.  49.  ^ 

Carlton,  Organized  Labor  in  American  History.    Chs.  4  and  5 
Commons,  History  of  Labor  in  the  United  Stales.     Vol   I    narts  2    . 
and  4.  ■    '  ^  '  ^5' 


I, 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE    CIVIL   WAR    PERIOD,    1857-1872 

/  The  period  of  the  Civil  War  is  unique  in  American  industrial 
history.    It  may  not  inaccurately  be  termed  the  epoch  of  the 

v/second  American  industrial  revolution.    The  period  marks  as 
significant  a  change  in  our  industrial  and  social  history  as  in  our 
political  history.    The  war  caused  an  imprecedented  drain  of 
workers  from  the  productive  industries  mto  the  army;  thousands 
of  workers  left  the  plow  and  the  bench  to  take  up  the  musket. 
The  demand  for  goods  was  deranged  as  a  consequence  of  hostil- 
ities; an  abnormal  demand  arose  for  army  supplies  and  the 
munitions  of  war.    The  war  tariffs  and  internal  revenue  acts 
were  also  disturbing  factors.    Soon  after  the  opening  of  the 
contest  large  issues  of  paper  money  were  made;  and,  as  a  con- 
sequence, prices  rose  rapidly  and  were  subject  to  great  fluctua- 
tions.   The  diminution  in  the  supply  of  adult  male  labor  caused 
an  increased  resort  to  child,  woman,  immigrant  and  convict 
labor,  and  led  to  the  rapid  introduction  of  labor-saving  machin- 
ery.   While  the  tendency  toward  concentration  of  industry  and 
wealth  began  to  be  apparent  during  the  decade  preceding  the 
war,  the  abnormal  conditions  existing  during  the  conflict  greatly 
accelerated  the  movement.    A  few  labor  organizations  trace 
their  history  back  to  the  decade  of  the  fifties;  but  the  Civil  War 
is  responsible  for  the  industrial  changes  which  have  made  labor 
organizations  permanent  factors  in  our  industrial  life.     The 
growth  of  the  railway  network  rapidly  enlarged  the  market  area, 
and  brought  the  middle  West  into  direct  communication  and 
competition  with  the  seaboard.     In  short,  this  abnormal  epoch 
gave  an  extraordinary  impetus  toward  invention,  large-scale 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  PERIOD,   1857-1872 


53 


•I 


industry,  and  the  formation  of  labor  organizations.  The 
Civil  War  made  iron  the  king  of  the  American  industrial  world. " 

The  historian  can  discern  that  the  decade  of  the  fifties  fore- 
told the  downfall  of  the  small-scale  industries  and  the  advent 
of  industrial  combinations  and  of  the  large  corporations;  but 
contemporary  students  saw  only  the  slavery  agitation  and  the 
events  which  were  hurrying  the  nation  into  civil  strife.  The 
discovery  of  gold  in  California  in  1848  quickened  the  pulse  of 
industry.  The  migration  of  people  to  the  far  West  began;  and 
the  population  of  California  increased  fourfold  in  the  decade  of 
the  fifties.  The  iron  and  copper  mines  of  the  Lake  Superior 
regions  commenced  to  send  shipments  to  the  lake  ports;  and  the 
iron  industry  of  northeastern  Ohio  began  to  give  promise  of  its 
future  magnitude.  The  year  1859  rnarked  the  beginning  of  the 
phenomenal  growth  of  the  oil  industry.  Many  notable  inven- 
tions were  patented  in  the  years  immediately  preceding  the  Civil 
War.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned  the  sewing  machine, 
the  telegraph,  boot  and  shoe  machinery,  and  the  reaper.  The 
wheat  and  com  production  of  the  middle  West  was  increasing 
by  leaps  and  bounds.  Exports  and  imports  doubled  in  the 
decade  of  the  fifties.  In  1850  our  imports  of  merchandise  were 
valued  at  $173,500,000;   i860,  at  $353,600,000. 

Industrial  Progress  During  the  War.  "Life  at  the  North 
during  the  war,"  writes  the  historian  Rhodes,  "resembled  that 
of  most  civilized  communities  which  had  full  communication 
with  the  outside  world.  Business  went  on,  schools  and  colleges 
were  full,  churches  were  attended,  and  men  and  women  had  their 
recreations."  With  the  exception  of  the  first  year,  the  Civil 
War  period  was  one  of  prosperity  in  manufacture,  transporta- 
tion, mining,  and  agriculture.  Profits  were  large;  and  the 
issuance  of  enormous  amounts  of  paper  money  inflated  prices 
and  caused  much  speculation.  The  war  produced  an  abnormal 
demand  for  standarized  articles;  and  such  a  demand  makes 
large-scale  industry  particularly  advantageous.     The  woolen 


54    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

industry  experienced  a  phenomenal  growth.    The  supply  of 
cotton  was  cut  off;  and  the  government  purchased  large  supplies 
of  army  clothing.    New  woolen  factories  were  opened;  many 
were  operated  both  day  and  night.     Dividends  of  ten  to  twenty 
per  cent,  were  common;  and  larger  returns  were  not  unknown. 
Not  satisfied  with  unusual  profits  honestly  made,  manufac- 
turers resorted  to  the  production  of  '^  shoddy  "  goods.    The  use 
of  the  sewing  machine  allowed  the  manufacturer  of  clothmg 
to  expand  rapidly.     "The  shoe  industry  likewise  benefited  by 
the  sewing  machine,  in  fact  was  converted  from  a  system  of 
household    manufacture    to    the    modem    factory    system."^ 
The  rise  of  the  iron  industry  was  even  more  remarkable.    The 
number  of  estabUshments  for  the  manufacture  of  iron  doubled 
in  the  decade  of  the  sixties,  the  amount  of  capital  mvested 
multipUed  nearly  six  times,  and  the  value  of   the  product 
likewise  increased  nearly  sbc-fold.    The  American  Iron  and 
Steel   Association  was  formed;    and   the  iron  manufacturers 
became  a  powerful  obstacle  on  the  path  of  the  movement  for 
tariff  reduction  after  the  war  was  ended.     Pittsburgh  was 
already  the  great  center  of  the  iron  and  steel  business. 

Before  the  close  of  the  war  the  refining  of  petroleum  became 
an  extensive  industry  with  Cleveland  as  its  chief  center.    Rail- 
way building  also  continued  during  the  war.     In  i860  the  rail- 
way mileage  was  30,635;  in  1870  the  total  had  grown  to  52,914 
mHes     Coal  and  iron  mining,  increased  rapidly.    Agriculture 
V  experienced  a  healthy  growth  during  the  war.    The  caU  for 
men  to  go  to  the  front  reduced  the  working  force  and  led  to  an 
unprecedented  demand  for  farm  hnplements.    It  is  estmiated 
that  about  70,000  mowers  and  reapers  were  manufactured  m 
1864,  about  twice  as  many  as  in  1862.     Few  machines  were 
sold  abroad.    The  customary  conservatism  of  the  farmer  and 
his  distrust  of  new  methods  and  implements  vanished  m  the 
face  of  the  necessity  of  harvesting  his  crops.    The  population 
»  Fite,  Social  and  Industrial  Conditigm  during  the  Civil  War,    P.  90. 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  PERIOD,   1857-1872  55 

of  the  Western  states  increased  rapidly.  The  state  census  of 
Illinois  taken  in  1865  shows  a  gain  in  population  of  430,000 
over  the  returns  for  i860,  an  increase  of  neariy  twenty-five 
per  cent.  The  returns  for  the  city  of  Chicago  were  109,260 
in  i860,  and  178,539  in  1865.  Chicago  became  the  center  tor 
the  grain  and  the  slaughtering  industries;  but  the  increase  in 
manufacturing  is  also  remarkable.  The  following  table  iUus- 
trates  the  way  in  which  manufactures  developed  in  that  city:* 

Establishments  1^57      1864 

Agricultural  implement  factories 2  9 

Breweries *9  27 

Distilleries 7  21 

Grain  elevators 7  ^^ 

Packing  houses ^3  ^ 

Iron  foundries ^^  ^9 

Machine  shops    ^7  28 

Tanneries 4  21 

Carriage  and  wagon  factories 43  iS4 

Industrial  Consolidation.    While  the  merging  of  small  busi- 
ness concerns  into  larger  ones  had  appeared  before  the  decade 
of  the  sixties  in  a  few  industries  such  as  the  manufacture  of 
cotton  goods,  the  railways,  and  the  telegraph  lines,  the  defi- 
nite movement  toward  centralization  which  is  so  character- 
istic of  the  last  half  century  actually  began  with  the  Civil 
War.    The  Western  Telegraph  Company  finally  absorbed  its 
important  rivals  in  1866.    While  the  soldiers  of  the  North  and 
the  South  were  fighting  on  many  a  battlefield,  railways  were 
uniting;  capitalists  were  combining  to  control  coal  mines  and 
lumber  lands;  oil  refineries  and  salt  mines  were  being  gathered 
under  the  control  of  a  few  companies.     ''By  1864  the  iron 
business,"  writes  Miss  Tarbell,   ''was  rapidly  becoming  a 
monopoly."    Under  the  pressure  caused  by  the  emission  of 
paper  money,  price  agreements  and  combinations  of  various 
sorts  were  made.    Associarions  of  manufacturers  were  formed 

1  Fite,  ibid.,  p.  95. 


f^i. 


56    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 


ll 


II 


to  oppose  higher  taxes  or  to  influence  tariff  legislation.  The 
National  Brewers'  Association  was  formed  in  1862.  In  1870 
a  brewer  declared  that  if  a  proposed  revenue  law  went  ''into 
effect,  the  brewers  would  form  an  organization  which  would 
not  only  control  $200,000,000  of  capital,  but  which  would 
have  thousands  of  political  votes  at  its  disposal."^  Other 
organizations,  such  as  the  National  Association  of  Wool 
Manufacturers,  the  New  England  Cotton  Manufacturers' 
Association,  and  the  American  Iron  and  Steel  Association  were 
formed  for  similar  purposes.  "Never  in  the  history  of  the 
country  up  to  that  time  had  there  been  such  a  strong  tendency 
toward  united  and  harmonious  action  on  the  part  of  the  em- 
ploying classes,  whether  this  resulted  in  a  complete  merging 
of  one  company  into  another  or  looser  and  more  temporary 
organizations  to  consider  the  subject  of  prices,  internal  taxes, 
the  tariff,  or  wages;  never  had  there  been  such  an  incentive  to 
consolidation  and  union.  Combination  in  every  line  was  the 
tendency  of  the  hour. "  ^ 

Wages  and  Prices.  The  most  familiar  and  trustworthy 
source  of  data  regarding  money,  wages,  and  prices  during  the 
period  of  the  Civil  War  is  the  report  of  a  Senate  Committee 
made  in  1893.  This  report  is  commonly  called  the  ''Aldrich 
Report."  According  to  this  report  the  increase  in  relative 
wages  and  prices  may  be  summarized  in  the  following  table. :  ^ 

Prices  Money  Wages  Real  Wages 

Simple  Averages  Simple  Averages         Stmple  Averages 


Year 
i860 
1861 
1862 
1863 
1864 

1865 
1866 


lOO.O 

100.6 

II7.8 
148.6 
I90.S 
216.8 

I9I.0 


lOO.O 

100.8 
102.9 
iio.s 

125.6 

1 43- 1 
152.4 


100 
100 

87 

74 
66 

66 

79 


1  Schlviter,  History  of  the  Brewing  Industry  and  the  Brewery  Workers'  OrganizO' 

tion.     P.  79. 

*  Fite,  Social  and  Industrial  Conditions  during  the  Civil  War.    Pp.  168-169. 

'Bogart,  Economic  History  of  the  United  States.    P.  340. 


THE   CIVIL  WAR  PERIOD,   1857-1872  57 

The  table  presented  above  indicates  that  prices  rose  on  the 
average  more  than  money  wages;  and  that  consequently  the 
real  wages  of  wage  earners  in  1864  and  1865  were  only  about 
two- thirds  that  received  in  i860.  The  wage  earners  and  the 
salaried  men  were,  therefore,  seriously  affected  by  the  rise  in 
prices.  One  qualifying  statement  is  worthy  of  notice.  Many 
of  the  able-bodied  and  most  capable  workers  joined  the  army; 
consequently,  the  average  efficiency  of  the  workers  in  a  given 
trade  or  industry  was  probably  reduced.  School  teachers 
suffered  greatly  because  of  the  rising  price  level.  In  1865 
the  school  teachers  of  Philadelphia  presented  a  memorial  to 
the  city  council  showing  the  increased  prices  of  various  neces- 
sities of  life.  This  memorial  presents,  in  a  very  concrete 
manner,  the  difficulties  which  confronted  the  wage  earners  of 
the  period.^ 

A  rticle  Price                                                      Increase 

i860  1865  per  cent 

Tea  (lb.) 50  cents              $1.50-$!. 75                   200-250 

Cofifee   14                           66-70  cents              330-400 

Sugar    8                            30                              275 

Beef 11-14                      22-30                        100  (over) 

Mutton 8-10                        16-20                         100  (about) 

Lard 11                            30                            ^73 

Butter 25-35                       7o-$i-oo                  280-285 

Milk  (qt.) 4-5                        12                             140-200 

Flour 100 

House  rent $0 

Men's  clothing    .  200 
Dress    goods    for 

women  and  children  *                                                300-400 

Muslins    400-450 

Brown  sheetings  .  600-650 

Canton  flannels   .  10  cents                   75  cents                  650 

Cotton  flaps 18                       $1.75                            872 

Coal  and  wood  150-200 

Boots      200-300 

Labor  During  the  Civil  War  Period.  The  rapidity  with 
which  prices  rose  in  the  sixties  was  even  more  marked  than  in 

*  Fincher's  Trade  Review,  January  28,  1865. 


/ 


/ 


58    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

the  thirties.  In  the  earlier  period,  as  was  indicated  in  a  pre- 
vious chapter,  an  extraordinary  outburst  of  trade-union  activ- 
ity was  induced;  and  the  rapidly  rising  prices  of  the  sixties 
had  the  same  effect.  After  1862  labor  agitation  became  con- 
siderable; concerted  effort  was  necessary  in  order  to  force 
increases  in  wages  commensurate  with  the  rise  in  prices.  In 
the  period  of  the  sixties,  however,  the  supply  of  labor  was 
reduced  until  the  close  of  the  war,  then  it  was  suddenly  ex- 
panded. In  the  thirties,  few  labor-saving  devices  came  into 
use.  In  the  sixties,  labor-saving  devices  multiplied  rapidly; 
and  the  employing  classes  were  more  strongly  united  than  in 
the  earlier  period.  On  the  other  hand,  the  wage  earner  might 
become  a  soldier  or  move  to  the  farming  or  the  mining  dis- 
tricts of  the  West  or  of  the  middle  West.  Thus  the  growth  of 
organization  among  the  wage  earners  met  certain  obstacles 
which  were  not  important  in  the  thirties. 

The  decade  of  the  fifties  witnessed  the  organization  of  sev- 
eral national  trade  unions  and  of  an  indefinite  number  of  local 
unions.  For  example,  the  cigar  makers  of  Cincinnati  are 
reported  to  have  organized  a  local  in  1843;  another  was 
formed  in  Baltimore  in  185 1.  In  succeeding  years,  additional 
locals  were  formed  in  New  York  and  other  cities.  In  1850  a 
national  union  of  printers  was  organized.  None  had  existed 
since  the  ephemeral  national  organization  of  the  thirties 
disappeared  amid  the  chaos  of  the  panic  of  1837.  The 
National  Trade  Association  of  Hat  Finishers  was  organized 
in  1854.  The  iron  molders  and  the  machinists  and  black- 
smiths formed  national  unions  in  1859;  and  the  ship  carpen- 
ters and  the  coal  miners  in  1861.  The  period  of  the  fifties 
had  been  marked  by  little  labor  legislation  except  of  the 
humanitarian  type. 

With  the  issuance  of  paper  money  the  workingman  awoke 
to  find  himself  menaced  by  rising  prices  and  opposed  by  an 
alert,  capable,  and  strong  employing  class.     From  1863  to 


THE   CIVIL  WAR   PERIOD,    1857-1872 


59 


1865  the  working  people  organized  and  carried  on  strikes  in 
much  the  same  manner  as  from  1834  to  1837.  A  newspaper 
dated  March  26,  1863,  stated  that  many  strikes  had  occurred 
''within  the  last  few  months."  Numerous  trade-union 
organizations  were  said  to  have  been  organized.  ^  Evidently 
strikes  were  again  "the  fashion"  and  organization  and  agi- 
tation the  watchwords  of  the  wage  earners.  Until  near  the 
end  of  the  war  strikes  were  usually  successful;  but  they  were 
not  sufficiently  successful  to  cause  the  increase  in  wages  to 
keep  pace  with  rising  prices.  ''At  one  mass  meeting  in  New 
York  over  fifty  different  unions,  most  of  which  were  new, 
were  represented,  and  by  a  conservative  estimate  the  total 
number  of  new  unions  in  the  city  may  be  placed  at  three 
hundred.  "2  New  national  organizations  naturally  appeared; 
several  were  formed  before  the  surrender  pf  Lee.  Among 
those  organized  were  the  Brotherhood  of  the  Footboard,  the 
forerunner  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Engineers, 
the  Cigar  Makers'  International  Union,  and  the  Bricklayers 
and  Masons'  International  Union.  Before  the  close  of  the 
year  1865,  at  least  thirty  city  central  unions  were  organized. 
"Finally,  in  September,  1864,  when  the  membership  of  the 
unions  was  estimated  at  two  hundred  thousand,  the  trades* 
assemblies  endeavored  to  form  a  national,  or,  rather,  the  Inter- 
national, Industrial  Assembly  of  North  America.  The  upper- 
most questions  in  this  first  national  gathering  were  strikes, 
the  store-order  or  truck  system  of  paying  wages,  cooperation, 
prison  labor,  and  woman's  work"^  From  1863  to  1866  the 
insistent  demands  of  organized  labor  were  for  higher  wages, 
a  shorter  working  day,  and  the  right  to  organize  without 
interference  on  the  part  of  their  employers.  The  aims  of 
the  wage  earners  at  this  time  were  predominating  practical. 

*  Quoted  from  Mitchell,  History  of  the  Greenbacks.    P.  348,  foot-note. 
'  Fite,  ibid.     P.  205. 

"Commons  and   Andrews,   Documentary  History  of  American  Industrial 
Society.    Vol.  9  :  23. 


6o    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 


With  the  return  of  the  soldiers  looking  for  employment, 
the  zeal  for  unionism  increased  in  strength;  but  the  methods 
and  ideals  of  labor  organizations  were  gradually  modified. 
In  1866  a  National  Labor  Congress  was  held  in  Baltimore. 
The  National  Labor  Union,  the  second  successful  attempt  to 
form  a  national  organization  of  all  labor  unions,  seems  to  have 
been  an  outgrowth  of  the  Congress  of  1866.  Annual  con- 
ventions of  the  National  Labor  Union  were  held  in  1867, 
1868,  1869,  1870,  1871,  and  1872.  The  National  Labor 
Union  was  a  weak  federation  of  local,  state,  and  national 
organizations.  In  the  first  convention  at  least,  delegates 
were  received  from  organizations  other  than  pure  and  simple 
trade  unions.  The  constitution  of  the  Union  declared  that 
it  "shall  be  composed  of  such  labor  organizations  as  may  now 
or  hereafter  exist,  having  for  their  object  the  amelioration  of 
the  condition  of  those  who  labor  for  a  living.  .  .  .  Every  in- 
ternational or  national  organization  shall  be  entitled  to  three 
representatives;  state  organizations  to  two;  trades'  unions 
and  all  other  [labor]  organizations  to  one  representative  in 
the  National  Labor  Congress."^  The  officers  consisted  of 
a  president,  two  vice-presidents,  a  recording  secretary,  a 
treasurer,  and  one  corresponding  representative  in  each  state. 
The  annual  dues  varied  from  $1.00  for  organizations  number- 
ing fifty  members  or  less,  to  $6.00  for  all  unions  having  more 
than  five  hundred  members. 

One  of  the  measures  favored  from  the  outset  was  an  eight- 
hour  day  for  all  wage  earners.  This  demand  was  taken  up  by 
organized  workers  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  In  June, 
1868,  on  the  eve  of  a  presidental  election,  Congress  passed  a 
soon-to-be-emasculated  eight-hour  law  applying  to  all  laborers 
and  mechanics  ''employed  by  or  on  behalf  of  the  United 
States  government."  The  National  Labor  Union  loudly 
proclaimed  that  it  had  been  a  potent  factor  in  securing  the 

*  The  word  "labor"  was  inserted  in  1868. 


«"M 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  PERIOD,   1857-1872 


61 


passage  of  this  act.  The  prestige  thus  given  to  it  made  the 
1868  meeting  by  far  the  most  important  of  the  six  conven- 
tions of  this  organization.  In  1868  William  H.  Sylvis,  who 
was  the  leader  of  the  iron  molders'  union,  and  one  of  the 
ablest  workingmen  of  this  period,  was  elected  president,  but 
he  died  a  few  weeks  before  the  next  annual  meeting.  The 
meeting  held  in  1872  closed  the  career  of  this  weak  advisory 
national  organization.  Only  seven  delegates  attended  the 
last  meeting.  One  well-known  authority  decided  that  this 
organization  died  ''from  the  disease  known  as  politics";* 
but  its  chief  purpose  and  aim  seems  to  have  been  political 
rather  than  economic.  It  came  into  being  because  of  a  de- 
sire to  influence  legislation. 

The  important  demands  and  recommendations  in  the  plat- 
form adopted  in  1868  by  the  National  Labor  Union,  were: 
(i)  Since  the  money  monopoly  was  the  parent  of  all  monop- 
olies, the  national  banking  system  should  be  abolished,  and 
the  capital  stock  of  banks  and  government  bonds  should 
not  be  exempted  from  taxation.  (2)  The  establishment  of 
cooperative  stores  and  workshops  was  favored.  (3)  The 
organization  pledged  itself  to  aid  women  wage  earners.  (4) 
The  abolition  of  the  contract  system  of  convict  labor  was 
demanded.  (5)  The  platform  asserted  that  poverty,  vice,  and 
crime  invariably  accompanied  bad  housing  conditions;  and  it 
asked  for  better  dwellings  for  workers.  (6)  The  establish- 
ment of  mechanics'  institutes,  lyceums,  and  reading  rooms 
for  the  education  and  enjoyment  of  the  wage  earners  was 
recommended.  (7)  As  a  remedy  for  unemployment,  emigra- 
tion to  Western  lands  was  advocated. 

Other  demands  made  by  organized  labor  during  the  latter 
half  of  the  sixties  were  (i)  for  an  eight-hour  day,  (2)  that  no 
land  grants  be  made  except  to  actual  settlers,  (3)  for  the 
estabhshment  of  a  national  labor  bureau,  (4)  that  the  impor- 

*  Ely,  The  Labor  Movement  in  America.     P.  69-70. 


62    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 


I 


tation  of  cheap  labor  be  restricted,  (5)  for  the  reduction  or 
abolition  of  tariff  duties  on  the  necessities  of  life,  (6)  that  only 
a  small  standing  army  be  maintained,  and  (7)  for  the  early 
payment  of  the  national  debt.  The  demands  of  labor  at  this 
time  were  primarily  poUtical  and  required  the  passage  of  legis- 
lation by  the  national  and  state  governments.  The  demands 
which  could  be  obtained  by  purely  trade-union  methods  were 
few.  Unionism  in  the  period  1866  to  1870  was  political 
rather  than  business  unionism. 

Finally  in  1869,  at  the  close  of  the  period  under  considera- 
tion, a  so-called  labor-reform  party  was  organized  in  Massa- 
chusetts. In  the  first  year  of  its  existence,  the  party  elected 
twenty-one  representatives  to  the  State  Assembly  and  one 
State  Senator.  The  state  ticket  polled  13,000  votes,  or  about 
one  in  every  ten  votes  cast.^  At  the  second  convention  held 
in  1870,  Wendell  Phillips  was  nominated  for  governor.  The 
prohibition  party  also  placed  Mr.  Phillips  at  the  head  of  its 
ticket.  The  labor  party  advocated  the  separation  of  indus- 
trial from  political  questions.  The  planks  in  the  platform  of 
1870  were  similar  to  the  recommendations  of  the  National 
Labor  Union.  Two  or  three  new  demands  were  made,  how- 
ever, which  indicate  the  appearance  of  new  evils.  The  regu- 
lation of  railway  rates  and  the  abolition  of  the  importation 
of  laborers,  particularly  from  China,  under  contract,  were 
advocated.  In  1871  the  resolutions  presented  by  Phillips 
and  adopted  by  the  labor-reform  party  were  tinged  with 
socialism.  It  was  affirmed  that  labor  is  the  creator  of  all 
wealth;  the  abolition  of  special  privileges  was  demanded; 
and  it  was  asserted  that  the  capitalistic  system  was  making 
the  rich  richer  and  the  poor  poorer.  In  1872  a  labor  congress 
was  held  at  Cincinnati  to  organize  a  national  party  for  the 
election  pf  that  year.  David  Davis  was  nominated;  but  he 
finally  refused  to  accept  the  nomination.  No  further  nomi- 
nations were  made. 

*  American  Workman,  November  20,  1869. 


THE   CIVIL  WAR   PERIOD,   1857-1872 


63 


During  the  last  years  of  the  period,  cooperation  vied  with 
political  action  as  a  solution  of  the  difficulties  confronting 
labor  organizations.  William  H.  Sylvis,  as  early  as  1864, 
advocated  the  establishment  of  cooperative  foundries.  Ac- 
cording to  this  labor  leader,  "cooperation  is  the  only  true 
remedy  for  low  wages,  strikes,  lockouts,  and  a  thousand  other 
impositions  and  annoyances  to  which  workingmen  are  sub- 
jected."^ It  is  known  that  a  number  of  cooperative  foun- 
dries were  established  during  the  latter  years  of  this  period. 

The  most  significant  demand  made  by  the  wage  earners  in 
this  period  was  for  an  eight-hour  day.  The  basic  principles 
of  the  new  philosophy  of  the  short  working  day  were  formu- 
lated by  Ira  Steward,  a  mechanic  of  Boston.  Steward  boldly 
cast  the  time-honored  wage-fund  doctrine  overboard.  The 
short  working  day,  by  increasing  the  amount  of  the  workers* 
leisure,  would  raise  the  standard  of  living  of  the  workers.  As 
the  standard  of  living  rises,  wages,  it  was  argued,  would  also 
rise,  and  more  and  more  machinery  would  be  used  in  produc- 
tion. '^To  employ  muscular  labor,"  wrote  Steward,  ^4n- 
stead  of  the  great  forces  of  nature,  not  only  means  poverty, 
but  the  physical  abuse,  deformity,  and  premature  decay  of 
the  laborer.  .  .  .  Natural  forces  never  grow  tired;  are  always 
ready  when  the  conditions  necessary  to  employ  them  are 
ready;  and  to  their  power  to  produce  wealth  abundantly  there 
is  no  conceivable  limit."  If  labor  were  made  expensive  by 
shortening  the  working  day  and  increasing  the  wants  of  the 
wage  earner,  natural  forces  would  multiply  indefinitely  the 
tot^l  amount  of  production.  Wages  are  thus  made  indirectly 
to  depend  upon  the  standard  of  living.  This  optimistic 
program  aimed  at  the  final  elimination  of  the  capitalist. 
'For  wages  will  continue  to  increase  until  the  capitalist  and 
laborer  are  one,"  and  therefore  it  follows  that  cooperation 
will    replace   the  wage    system.     But  the  presence  of  wage 

^  Quoted  in  Ely's  The  Labor  Movement  in  America,     P.  183. 


'\ 


\\i 


64    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

earners  satisfied  with  a  low  standard  of  living  was  considered 
to  be  a  constant  menace  to  all  clinging  to  a  higher  standard. 
In  the  era  of  wide  markets,  high  standards  of  living  in  Amer- 
ica are  menaced  by  the  low  standards  of  the  men  in  China  and 
India.  ''The  world-wide  power  of  the  lowest,  over  the  high- 
est paid  labor,  can  no  longer  be  disregarded,"  declared  this 
spokesman  of  the  wage-earning  class  of  a  generation  ago. 
''Although  Steward  failed  to  secure  general  legislation  in  all 
states,  the  trade  unions  made  his  doctrine  their  basic  one;  and 
today,  among  American  wage  earners,  whether  organized  or 
unorganized,  as  distinguished  from  immigrant  wage  earners. 
Steward's  doctrine  is  the  instinctive  philosophy."^ 

The  era  of  rising  prices  in  the  thirties  caused  a  flash  of  class 
consciousness.  Again,  from  1862  to  1866,  bitter  antagonism 
between  employer  and  employee  was  not  lacking.  On  June 
30, 1863,  preceding  the  battle  of  Gettysburg  by  three  days,  an 
organization  of  Philadelphia  employers  decided  to  run  the 
establishments  of  their  members  only  half-time,  paying  half- 
time  wages,  ''in  order  that  the  men  may  organize  and  drill 
in  the  afternoon."  This  patriotic  ardor  was  not  displayed 
until  Lee's  army  menaced  Pennsylvania.  Fincher^s  Trade 
Review  declared  that  the  employers  "mean  to  combine  for 
the  purpose  of  forcing  their  hundreds  and  thousands  of 
employees  to  defend  their  (the  employers')  property,  at  their 
(the  employees')  own  expense."  The  editor  of  another 
labor  paper  antedated  by  nearly  forty  years  the  opening 
words  of  John  Mitchell's  Organized  Labor  when  he  stated 
that  the  workingmen  no  longer  expect  to  become  capitalists. 
He  declared  that  an  exclusive  caste  based  upon  wealth 
was  in  the  process  of  formation.  "The  hope  that  the  work- 
ingman  may  enter  this  circle  is  a  ghttering  delusion  held  up 

*  Commons  and  Andrews,  Documentary  History  of  American  Industrial 
Society,  Vol.  9  :  26.  The  quotations  from  the  writings  of  Ira  Steward  are  taken 
from  articles  reprinted  in  this  volume. 


THE  CIVn.  WAR  PERIOD,   1857-1872 


65 


before  him  to  distract  his  attention  from  the  real  object  of 
his  interest."  ^  WilHam  H.  Sylvis,  in  a  speech  deUvered  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  sixties,  spoke  of  "a  money  aristocracy  — 
proud,  imperious,  and  dishonest.  .  .  .  This  power  is  blasting 
and  blistering  everything  it  comes  in  contact  with."  ^ 

The  influx  of  immigrants  during  the  last  years  of  the  war 
and  the  occasional  use  of  Negroes  as  strike  breakers  intensi- 
fied the  antagonism  between  the  employers  and  the  union 
men.  And  the  coming  of  the  immigrant  increased  the 
divisive  force  of  race  prejudice  and  antagonism  which  has 
retarded  the  development  of  unionism  in  this  country.  It 
was  feared  that  when  the  workingmen  who  had  enlisted  re- 
turned they  would  find  their  places  filled  by  immigrants  from 
foreign  lands  and  by  the  emancipated  slaves.  As  early  as 
1863  a  spokesman  of  the  wage  workers  demanded  *' proper 
restriction  upon  the  ingress  of  emancipated  slaves."  Owing 
to  his  low  standards  of  living,  it  was  said  that  the  black  man 
could  not  be  a  ''fair  competitor  of  the  white  worker."' 

In  the  Civil  War  period,  labor  was  never  strongly  organized. 
No  clear  vision  of  .the  solidarity  of  the  laboring  classes  had  as 
yet  caught  and  held  the  attention  of  the  wage  earners.  But 
the  Civil  War  made  permanent  labor  Organization  inevitable. 
The  Civil  War  marks  a  transition  period  in  our  labor  history. 
Concentrated  capital,  the  extensive  use  of  subdivided  labor, 
the  influx  of  the  cheap  labor  of  southern  Europe,  and  the 
peopling  of  the  West  have  given  organized  labor  its  big  prob- 
lems. Henceforward,  the  United  States  was  destined  to  be 
an  industrial  community  which  organized  its  industries  on  a 
large  scale."  With  the  panic  of  1873  unionism  suffered  a 
temporary  check,  only  to  be  followed  by  a  new  era  in  the  his- 
tory of  labor  organizations. 

*  The  Workingman's  Advocate  (Chicago),  September  i,  1866. 

*  Sylvis,  The  Life,  Speeches,  Labors,  ayid  Essays  of  William  H.  Silvis.    P.  280. 

*  Fincher^s  Trade  Review,  June  13,  1853. 


66    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

The  Knights  of  Si.  Crispin.    The  history  of  this  organiza- 
tion of  shoemakers  is  considered  in  this  chapter  because  it 
arose  during  the  period  of  transition  of  the  shoemaking  indus- 
try from  the  small-scale  or  handicraft  stage  to  the  large-scale 
or  factory  stage,  and  near  the  close  of  the  Civil  War  period. 
During  the  early  fifties  many  inventions  were  made  which 
*'were  aids  to  the  journeyman  rather  than  substitutes  for  his 
skill/'    But  with  the  introduction  of  the  pegging  machine 
in  1857  and   the   sole-sewing  machine  five   years   later,  the 
journeyman  shoemaker  faced  the  danger  of  the  loss  of  his 
trade  and  the  competition  of  unskilled  labor  or  ''green  hands. " 
With  the  invention  of  these  machines  the  shoemaking  indus- 
try was  ripe  for  the  factory  stage,  and  the  Civil  War  with  its 
demands  for  soldiers'  shoes  caused  the  evolution  to  be  ahnost 
j  a  revolution.     By  1870  or  1875  the  factory  system  was  well 
^    developed.     The  Knights  of  St.  Crispin  were  first  organized 
in  1867;  and  the  first  meeting  of  the  Grand  Lodge  was  held 
in  1868.     In  form  it  was  a  secret  organization  with  a  ritual. 
Within  five  or  six  years  this  organization  became  the  most 
^  powerful  labor  organization  formed  up  to  that  time;  and  then 
it  quickly  melted  away.     ''It  made  and  unmade  poUticians; 
it  estabhshed  a  monthly  journal;  it  started  cooperative  stores; 
it  fought,  often  successfully,  for  better  returns  to  its  members 
for  labor  performed;  it  grew  rapidly  in  numbers,  and  became 
international  in  scope.  "^    A  New  York  newspaper  in  1869 
stated  that  the  first  lodge  of  St.  Crispin  in  that  city  was 
organized  in  1868  in  an  attic  room;  but  the  union  had  grown 
until  it  was  said  to  include  in  its  membership  nearly  all  the 
skilled  shoemakers  of  the  city  and  to  control  practically  all 
the  shops  of  the  city.    At  the  height  of  its  power  the  order 
had  a  membership  of  at  least  40,000,  or  it  contained  about 
four  times  as  many  workers  as  any  other  labor  organization 
then  in  existence.     The  order  practically  disappeared  soon 
after  the  panic  of  1873. 

*  McNeil.  The  Labor  Movemenl.     P.  200. 


I 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  PERIOD,   1857-187-^ 


67 


The  shoemakers  were  confronted  by  two  dangers;  either  one 
of  the  two  alone  would  have  been  sufficient  to  call  forth  or- 
ganized protests.     The  two  united  forced  the  craftsmen  with 
an  almost  unparalleled  spontaneity  into  a  powerful  labor 
organization.     In  the  first  place,  the  effect  of  rising  prices 
directly  pinched  the  shoemaker  as  it  did  other  workers;  and, 
secondly,  the  employers  in  the  factories  were  substituting 
green  hands  —  cheap  labor  —  for  the  skilled  journeymen  as 
a  consequence  unemployment  increased  and  the  employers 
were  actively  trymg  to  reduce  wages.     The  St.  Crispins  were 
primarily  organized  as  a  national  body,  not  so  much  to  pro- 
test against  the  use  of  the  machine  as  against  the  introduction 
of  cheap  labor  which  seemed  to  the  journeymen  to  be  the  abuse 
of  the  machine.    They  attempted  to  establish  a  monopoly 
in   the  shoemaking  industry  by  refusing  to  teach  appren- 
tices and  green  hands.     One  of  their  important  rules  read: 
*'No  member  of  the  order  shall  teach  or  aid  in  teaching  any 
part  or  parts  of  boot  or  shoe  making  unless  the  lodge  shall 
give  permission."    The  St.  Crispins  utilized  the  strike;  but 
they  considered  cooperation  to  be  an  efficient  remedy  "for 
many  of  the  evils  of  the  present  iniquitous  system  of  wages." 
*'The  Knights  of  St.  Crispin  was  the  first  great  protest  of 
America's  workmen  against  the  abuse  of  the  machine.     Fan- 
tastic in  some  of  its  superficial  features,  crude  in  its  methods, 
and  loose  in  its  organization,  it  yet  embodied  an  essential 
demand  for  justice.     The  shoemakers  insisted,  and  rightly, 
that  the  benefits  of  machinery  should  be  to  those  who  toil 
with  it  as  well  as  to  those  who  own  it  or  buy  its  products."^ 
Such  a  powerful  labor  movement  could  not  fail  to  develop 
opposing  associations  of  employers  and  dealers.     One  of  these, 
a  Shoe  and  Leather  Association,  protested  against  the  methods 
of  labor  organizations.    Using  words  similar  to  those  em- 

1  Lescohier,  Bulletin  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin.    No.  355,  p.  59-     See 
also  Commons,  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics.    Vol.  24:  72-75- 


I* 


68    HISTORY   AND   PROBLEMS   OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

ployed  by  employers'  associations  of  today,  this  body  de- 
clared that  ''nothing  will  improve  the  condition  of  journey- 
men but  mental  and  moral  culture. "  A  vigorous  protest  was 
made  against  what  is  now  called  the  closed  shop  poHcy. 
This  policy  was  held  to  be  a  violation  of  the  rights  of  both 
employer  and  employee.  Wages  should  be  determined  by 
the  familiar  law  of  demand  and  supply  without  interference 
on  the  part  of  organized  labor.  ^ 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

Fite,  Social  and  Industrial  Conditions  during  the  Civil  War. 
Commons  and  Andrews,  Documentary  History  of  American  Industrial 
Society.     Vols.  9  and  10. 

Ely,  The  Labor  Movement  in  America.     Ch.  3. 
Wright,  Industrial  Evolution  of  the  United  States.     Chs.  12  and  19. 
Mitchell,  A  History  of  the  Greenbacks.     Pt.  2,  Chs.  4  and  5. 
McNeill,  The  Labor  Movement. 

Lescohier,  "The  Knights  of  St.  Crispinr  Bulletin  of  the  University  of 
Wisconsin.    No.  355. 

Rhodes,  History  of  the  United  States  from  the  Compromise  of  1850 
Vol.  5. 

Commons,  History  of  Labor  in  the  United  States.     Vol.  2,  part  5. 
Carlton,  **  Ephemeral  Labor  Movements,  1866-1889,"  Popular  Sci- 
ence Monthly,  November,  1914. 

*  The  American  Workman,  August  13,  1870. 


J 


CHAPTER  V 

THE   PERIOD    OF   NATIONAL    ORGANIZATION 

Recent  Industrial  Progress,  The  panic  of  1873  again 
accelerated  the  movement  toward  industrial  combination  by 
forcing  many  small  concerns  into  bankruptcy;  and  soon  after 
the  recovery  from  the  panic  of  1893,  the  rush  toward  integra- 
tion of  industries  began.  The  census  statistics  clearly  show 
the  rapid  progress  in  manufacture  toward  large-scale  industry. 


Factory,  Mechanical,  and  Neighborhood  Industries 


Z870 

Number  of  estab- 
lishments   253,148 

Wage  earners  (total)  «, 053, 996 

CapiUl  (total) $2,118,308,769 

Value   of    products 

(average) 4.333,325,442 


x88o 

253.852 

2,732,59s 

$2,790,273,606 


1890 

355.41S 

4,251,613 

$6,525,156,486 


1900 

512,254 

5,308,406 

$9,817,434,799 


xgos 

533.76Q 

6,152,443 

$13,872,035,371 


S.369,579.191        9,372,437,283      13,004,400,143        16,866.706,98s 


Agricultural  Implements 
1850 


i860       1870        1880        1890         1900 

Number  of  establishments    i,333      2,116       2,076        r,943  9io  7i5 

Capital  (per  establishment)    $2,674    $6,S53    $16,780    $31,966    $iS9.686    $220,571 

Value  of  products  (per  esUblishment) .   $5,133    %9MS    $25,080    $35,327      $89,310    $i4i,549 

The  following  table  indicates  the  completeness  with  which 
the  individual  and  partnership  methods  of  business  manage- 
ment of  the  pre-Civil  War  period  have  been  superseded  by 
the  corporate  form  of  control. 

Character  of  Ownership  of  Establishments  in  the  United  States,  igos 


Establishments 

Capital 

Wage  earners 

Value  of  products 

Number 

Per 

cent. 

52.7 

22.2 

23.6 

1-5 

Amount 

Per 

cent. 

Number 

Per 

cent. 

13-8 

15-4 

70.6 

0.2 

Amount 

Per 

cent. 

Individual    

Firm 

113  961 

47  942 

51.156 

3,203 

$965,831,738 
1,188.892,836 

10,510,811,35s 
20.729,744 

7.6 

9-4 

82.8 

0.2 

7SS.972 
841,280 

3,864,549 
8,520 

1,702,980,808 

2,132,619,830 

10,912,080,421 

54,466,028 

"5 
14.4 

Inc. Company.  . 
Miscellaneous  . . 

73-7 
0.4 

69 


^ 


^ 


70    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  panic  of  1893,  with  a  few  exceptions, 
•  the  profits  made  in  a  given  business  were  usually  expended 
for  the  extension  of  business  within  that  industry,  such  as  in 
the  utilization  of  by-products.  But  gradually  the  opportuni- 
ties for  such  investments  dechned.  Then  followed  the  building 
up  of  group  interests.  The  United  States  Steel  Corpora- 
tion, with  a  capitalization  of  approximately  a  biUion  dollars, 
is  perhaps  the  best  example  up  to  date  of  integration  in 
industry.  This  corporation  controls  over  two  hundred  manu- 
facturing and  transportation  companies,  iron  ore  mines  which 
produce  approximately  four-fifths  of  the  iron  ore  mined  in  the 
United  States,  and  about  one-half  of  the  coke  output  of  the 
country.  It  not  only  combines  under  one  board  of  directors 
iron  and  steel  mills,  but  such  varied  industries  as  bridge  works, 
tin  plate  manufactories,  coal  and  iron  mines,  coking  furnaces, 
railway  and  steamship  lines,  docks,  and  limestone  quarries. 

In  1904  it  was  estimated  that  over  three  hundred  ''trusts,^* 
capitalized  at  more  than  seven  billion  dollars,  and  operating 
over  five  thousand  plants,  existed  in  this  country.     ''  Trusts'* 
control,  in  a  more  or  less  complete  manner,  the  production  of  a 
multitude  of  dissimilar  articles,  —  from  iron  and  steel  to 
candy,  from  locomotives  to  tin  cans,  and  from  beef  to  buttons. 
The  railways  of  the  country  are  controlled  by  a  few  compa- 
nies.   The  control  of  our  public  utilities,  the  telegraph  lines 
and  the  express  business,  is  centralized.    The  directors  of 
great  combinations  like  the  Standard  Oil  Company  are  also 
found  among  the  directors  of  a  multitude  of  other  important 
businesses,  —  railways,  banks,  manufacturing  establishments, 
/  and    steamship    companies.     Industrial    control   is   growing 
more  and  more  unified.    Intimate  relationships  now  exist 
between  railways,  mines,  industrials,  and  banks.    The  efi^orts 
of  the  men  in  control  are  now  chiefly  directed  toward  increas- 
ing ownership  and  strengthening  control  rather  than  toward 
industrial   efficiency.    Financial   manipulation   rather   than 


THE   PERIOD  OF  NATIONAL  ORGANIZATION 


71 


> 


technical  efficiency  is  becoming  the  aim  of  the  captains  of  in- 
dustry  or  rather  of  the  generals  of  finance.  The  technical 
experts  are  employees.  This  evolution  in  the  industrial  and 
financial  world  very  materially  affects  the  relations  between 
labor  and  capital,  between  the  employee  and  the  employer. 
The  personal  nexus  between  the  employer  and  the  wage 
earner  has  vanished;  and  their  contact  is  now  impersonal  and 
long-distant.  The  stockholders,  scattered  all  over  the  nation, 
and  the  directors  never  or  rarely  come  in  touch  with  the 
technical  and  concrete  affairs  of  the  business  they  own  and 
control.  Labor  problems  and  all  the  facts  and  incidents  of 
modern  industrial  and  social  life  cannot  be  thoroughly  under- 
stood unless  due  weight  is  given  to  the  effects  of  the  central- 
ization and  the  unification  of  industrial  management. 

Organizations  of  Labor.  The  panic  of  1873  forced  many 
unions  to  disband.  Since  the  dues  paid  by  the  members  of 
these  early  trade  unions  were  low  and  no  adequate  system  of 
benefits  was  provided,  many  organizations  could  not  stand  the 
pressure  of  hard  times.  The  membership  of  the  International 
Typographical  Union,  for  example,  fell  from  9,797  in  1873  to 
4,260  in  1878;  and  the  number  of  unions  in  the  organization 
decreased  from  105  to  60.  Several  of  the  organizations  among 
the  wage  earners  founded  between  1873  and  1881  were  secret 
in  character,  and  were  not  strictly  trade  unions.  ''Aside  from 
the  national  unions  in  a  few  trades,  the  most  striking  charac- 
teristic of  labor  organizations  during  this  period  was  lack  of 
unity.  So  long  as  these  secret  orders,  some  of  which  declared 
that  trade  unions  had  outlived  their  usefulness,  thrived,  any 
comprehensive  trade  union  organization  was  well  nigh  im- 
possible." 1  In  the  eighties  the  Knights  of  Labor  gathered 
large  numbers  of  workingmen  into  its  fold;  and,  after  1878, 
local  and   national   trade   unions  gradually  increased   their 

*  Aldrich,  "The  American  Federation  of  Labor,"  Economic  Studies.    VoL 
3:  222. 


72    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED    LABOR 

membership.  The  depression  of  the  nineties  again  retarded 
the  progress  of  unionism.  For  five  or  more  years  after  1900, 
and  following  a  period  of  rapid  integration  in  the  industrial 
world,  the  membership  of  labor  organizations  increased 
rapidly;  but  the  history  of  this  period  can  best  be  given  in 
connection  with  that  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor. 

The  Knights  of  Labor,    The  Noble  Order  of  the  Knights  of 
Labor  was  organized  by  U.  S.  Stevens,  a  tailor  of  Philadel- 
phia, on  Thanksgiving  Day  of  1869.     It  was  at  first  a  secret 
organization.    The  name  of  the  organization  was  even  kept 
secret;  and  the  order  had  a  somewhat  elaborate  ritual.    Later 
the  element  of  secrecy  was  eliminated.     The  first  local  assem- 
bly of  the  Knights  was  composed  solely  of  garment  workers. 
The  original  intention  seems  to  have  been  the  formation  of  a 
trade  union  to  advance  the  interests  of  the  garment  workers. 
Within  a  year,  however,  a  man  who  was  not  a  garment  worker 
was  initiated.    The  ideal  of  trade  unionism  was  replaced  by 
the  hope  of  successfully  amalgamating  all  workers  into  one 
coherent  and   centrally  managed   body.  "^The  first  general 
assembly  of  the  order  was  held  in  1878,  at  which  time  the 
membership  was  reported  to  have  been  80,000.  XThe  mem- 
bership increased  gradually  until    1885,   at  which   time  it 
numbered  over  100,000;  then  suddenly  the  order  grew  in 
strength  until  in  1886  at  least  600,000  members  acknowledged 
the  supremacy  of  the  general  assembly'X   This  was  the  high 
water  mark  in  the  history  of  the  order.    Mr.  Powderly,  the 
grand  master  workman,  said:  —  "The  officers  were  taken  up 
in  the  vain  attempt  to  assimilate  and  educate  the  incoming 
tide  of  humanity  which  looked  to  the  organization  for  relief, 
rather  than  to  their  own  eflorts  in  the  organization  in  the 
behalf  of  all.  '^    The  symptoms  of  over-organization  appeared ; 
many  strikes  occured;  political  entanglements  followed;  co- 
operative  experiments  were   costly;   difficulties   with   trade 
unions  became  serious;  and  frequent  internal  dissentions  arose. 


s 


THE  PERIOD  OF  NATIONAL  ORGANIZATION         73 

The  tide  set  definitely  toward  the  formation  of  national  trade 
unions  and  the  membership  of  the  Knights  decreased.  Feder- 
ation rather  than  amalgamation  became  the  accepted  method 
of  unification  among  labor  organizations.  The  Knights  of 
Labor  lived  for  many  years  as  an  impotent  organization. 

The  government  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  is  highly  central- 
ized. The  executive  officers  have  a  large  measure  of  author- 
ity over  the  subordinate  bodies.  They  may  suspend  officers 
and  members,  revoke  charters,  and,  since  1886,  order  or 
terminate  strikes.  "Full  and  final  jurisdiction  in  all  matters 
pertaining  to  the  local  and  district  assemblies"  is  vested  in 
the  general  assembly.  This  general  governing  body  meets 
annually,  and  is  composed  of  delegates  chosen  from  each  of 
the  bodies  directly  subordinate  to  it.  One  delegate  is  allowed 
for  a  certain  quota  of  members.  Subordinate  to  the  general 
assembly  are  national  trade  assemblies,  state  assemblies,  dis-f 
trict  assemblies,  and  local  assemblies.  The  local  assemblies 
are  usually  composed  of  men  of  one  trade;  but  some  locals 
are  mixed  assemblies"  composed  of  men  of  various  trades. 
The  latter  seek  "to  gather  into  one  association  all  branches 
of  honorable  toil,  without  regard  to  nationality,  sex,  creed,  or 
color."  Men  of  nearly  all  classes  are  admitted.  "At  the 
option  of  each  local  assembly  any  person  over  the  age  of 
sixteen  years  is  eligible  to  become  a  member  of  the  order, 
except  employers  in  the  manufacture  or  sale  of  intoxicating 


liquors,  and  no  banker,  professional  gambler,  or  a  lawyer  can 
be  admitted."  Many  fanners  were  members  of  the  order  in 
the  years  of  its  greatest  strength.  A  local  may  be  directly 
attached  to  the  general  assembly;  but  it  is  usually  subordi- 
nate to  a  district,  a  state,  or  a  national  trade  assembly.  A 
district  assembly  is  composed  of  representatives  of  the  local 
in  a  given  locality.  It  may  include  only  workers  in  one  trade 
or  it  may  be  a  ''mixed  assembly."  "A  state  assembly,  when 
formed,  has  jurisdiction  over  all  the  territory  of  its  State 


:/ 


Wk 


n/ 


\/ 


74    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

which  is  not  assigned  to  mixed  district  assemblies  already 
existing,  together  with  such  territory  as  may  be  surrendered 
by  any  such  district  assembly."^  The  national  trade 
assemblies  are,  as  the  name  indicates,  made  up  of  repre- 
sentatives from  the  locals  composed  of  workers  in  one  trade. 
The  Knights  of  Labor  proposed  to  improve  the  conditions  of 
the  laboring  class  as  a  whole,  not  merely  to  better  the  condi- 
tions of  a  fraction  of  the  mass,  that  is,  of  one  trade.  ''An  injury 
to  one  is  the  concern  of  all,"  is  a  favorite  motto.  The  ultunate 
aim  of  the  leaders  of  this  organization  in  the  early  part  of  its 
career  was  some  form  of  a  cooperative  commonwealth.  In  the 
days  of  its  prosperity  this  organization  had  a  fine  conception  of 
the  solidarity  of  the  working  class;  but  the  time  had  not  yet 
arrived  when  an  organization  which  aimed  at  the  amalgama- 
tion of  all  workers  could  maintain  an  effective  organization. 

The  declaration  of  principles  adopted  by  the  first  general 
assembly  indicates  that  the  Knights  of  Labor  expected  the 
betterment  of  the  working  class  to  come  through  political 
action  or  cooperation  rather  than  through  strikes,  boycott, 
and  the  other  customary  methods  of  trade  unions.  Among 
the  reforms  demanded  by  the  first  general  assembly  were  the 
referendum,  the  establishment  of  a  bureau  of  labor  statistics, 
that  occupancy  and  use  of  land  should  furnish  the  only  valid 
title  to  land,  the  prohibition  of  child  labor,  the  levying  of 
graduated  income  and  inheritance  taxes,  the  establishment 
of  a  postal  savings  bank  system,  government  ownership  of  the 
railways  and  of  the  telegraph  lines,  the  introduction  of  the 
system  of  cooperation  to  supersede  the  wage  system,  the  use  of 
arbitration  in  the  case  of  labor  disputes,  and  the  gradual  intro- 
duction of  the  eight-hour  day.  One  of  their  aims  was  "to  make 
industrial  and  moral  worth,  not  wealth,  the  true  standard  of 
individual  and  national  greatness.' '  This  peculiar  hotch-potch 
of  idealism,  poHtical   reform,  and  quasi-socialism  could  not 

1  Report  of  the  Industrial  Commission.    Vol.  17:  17. 


THE  PERIOD  OF  NATIONAL  ORGANIZATION 


75 


form  a  firm  basis  upon  which  to  erect  permanent  union  of 
men  from  many  trades.  Too  many  of  these  demands  did  not 
relate  definitely  and  specifically  to  the  immediate  interests  of 
the  wage  earners.  The  rank  and  file  of  the  members  of  this 
order  could  not  be  expected ''  to  discuss  patiently,  adopt  calmly, 
and  execute  bravely,  plans  for  the  amelioration"  of  all  wage 
earners,  skilled  and  unskilled,  black  or  white.  Consequently, 
the  Knights  of  Labor  gave  way  to  another  organization  whose 
eyes  were  fixed  on  more  immediate  goals,  and  whose  ideal  of 
government  was  confederation  rather  than  centralization. 

The  American  Federation  of  Labor.  This  national  labor 
organization  was  founded  in  188 1.  It  grew  slowly  during 
the  first  years  of  its  existence;  the  number  of  members  repre- 
sented in  the  annual  meeting  of  1890  was  190,000.  This  figure 
and  subsequent  figures  represent  the  membership  actually 
paying  the  per  capita  tax.  The  real  membership  is  somewhat 
larger  as  some  of  the  locals  are  "tax  dodgers,"  and  members 
engaged  in  strikes  and  lockouts  do  not  pay  dues.  According 
to  one  estimate  the  actual  membership  is  twenty  per  cent 
larger  than  the  reported  membership.  The  following  table 
presents  the  official  figures  of  membership  and  the  number  of 
affiliated  unions: 


Year 

1897 
1900 
1902 

1903 
1904 

190S 
1908 

1911 

1914 

1917 

1918 

1919 

1920 


Membership 

Unions  Affiliated 

264,825 

55 

548,321 

82 

1,024,399 

97 

1,465,800 

"3 

1,676,200 

120 

1,494,300 

118 

1,586,88s 

"5 

1,761,83s 

115 

2,020,671 

no 

2,371,434 

III 

2,726,478 

III 

3,260,068 

III 

4,078,740 

no 

',\ir 


.1« 


IJI> 


J 


76     HISTORY   AND   PROBLEMS   OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

During  the  five-year  period,  1900-1904,  the  growth  in 
membership  was  considerable.  For  example,  the  gain  be- 
tween 1902  and  1903  was  greater  than  the  membership  in 
1900.  After  1904  came  a  temporary  check;  not  until  1911  did 
the  membership  equal  that  recorded  in  1904.  In  19 14,  the 
two  million  mark  was  passed;  but  a  slump  the  following  year 
left  the  membership  less  than  two  millions.  If  the  actual 
membership  be  twenty  per  cent  more  than  the  paid-up  mem- 
bership, 5,400,000  wage  earners  were,  in  1920,  afliliated  in 
the  Federation.  In  1919,  practically  all  the  important  labor 
organizations  of  the  United  States  were  affiliated  in  this  great 
Federation  except  several  railway  brotherhoods,^  the  Amal- 
gamated Clothing  Workers,  and  the  Amalgamated  Textile 
Workers.  The  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World  is  an  an- 
tagonistic organization.  It  may  roughly  be  estimated  that 
6,000,000  wage  earners  were  members  of  American  labor  unions 
in  May,  1920. 

The  growth  in  membership  has  proceeded  at  an  irregular 
pace.  There  have  been  two  periods  of  great  advance  in  the 
history  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  1900-1904,  and 
1917  to  the  present  time.  Before  1900  and  from  1904  to  1917 
the  growth  of  the  Federation  was  very  deliberate.  The  first 
period  follows  upon  the  heels  of  the  great  era  of  trust  or- 
ganization, and  the  second  covers  the  latter  portion  of  the 
war  period  and  the  opening  years  of  reconstruction.  In  the 
years  intervening  between  1904  and  1907,  the  policy  of  an- 
tagonism on  the  part  of  great  corporations  and  powerful 
employers'  associations,  and  the  hostile  attitude  of  the  courts 
as  evidenced  by  certain  important  decisions,  were  factors 
which  retarded  the  growth  of  organized  labor.  About  1910 
certain  students  of  the  labor  situation  reached  pessimistic 
conclusions  as  to  the  immediate  future  of  organized  labor  in 
the  United  States.     In   1908,  Professor  Commons  declared 

*  It  seemed  probable  (May,  1920)  that  these  would  soon  affiliate. 


I 


THE  PERIOD  OF  NATIONAL  ORGANIZATION 


77 


that  "the  unions  have  practically  disappeared  from  the 
trusts,  and  are  disappearing  from  the  large  corporations  as 
they  grow  large  enough  to  specialize  minutely  their  labor." 
The  attitude  of  certain  large  employers  of  labor  has  changed 
but  little  in  the  dozen  years  which  have  elapsed  since  this 
statement  was  made. 

The  American  Federation  of  Labor  is  a  federation  of  unions; 
the  individual  members  have  little  or  no  direct  relation  to  it. 
The  basic  unit  in  the  organization  is  the  local  union,  which 
includes  only  members  who  live  and  work  in  one  town.  The 
locals  are  required  to  join  the  national  union  in  their  trade. 
A  local  is  also  expected,  but  not  required,  to  affiliate  with  the 
central  labor  union  of  the  city  or  town  in  which  it  is  located 
and  the  state  federation,  if  one  is  organized  in  that  state;  and 
the  latter  bodies  may  not  admit  delegates  from  unions  not 
affiliated  with  the  Federation.  A  local  union  of  machinists 
in  Chicago,  for  example,  is  affiliated  with  the  International 
Association  of  Machinists,  the  Chicago  Federation  of  Labor, 
and  the  Illinois  Federation  of  Labor.  The  national  trade 
union,  the  city  central  union  or  federation  of  labor,  and  the 
state  federation  are  each  in  turn  affiliated  with  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor.  With  few  exceptions  local  unions  are 
affiliated  with  the  Federation  only  indirectly  through  a  na- 
tional union.  If  no  national  union  as  yet  exists,  the  local  may 
be  directly  affiliated  with  the  Federation.  A  "federal  labor 
union"  is  a  mixed  local  union;  such  bodies  are  sometimes 
formed  where  distinct  local  trade  unions  are  impracticable 
for  lack  of  numbers.  These  unions  are  "recruiting  stations." 
As  soon  as  a  sufficient  number  of  workers  of  one  trade  or  occu- 
pation are  gathered  into  a  federal  union  they  are  expected  to 
organize  a  separate  local.  The  federal  unions  are  affiliated 
directly  with  the  Federation;  the  national  unions  are  fed- 
erations composed  of  locals  in  a  given  trade.  The  author- 
ity and  duties  of  national  bodies  vary  greatly.     Some  national 


[^ 


4 


I 


tl 


i    1' 


78    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

bodies  exercise  strict  control  over  the  locals;    others  have 
little  more  than  advisory  power.^     The  chief  purpose  of  the 
V  state  federations  is  political.    They  aim  to  secure  the  passage 
of  legislation  deemed  to  be  favorable  to  the  interests  of  wage 
earners,  and  to  defeat  hostile  legislation.     City  central  labor 
unions  are  founded  chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  enabling   "all 
organized  labor  in  the  city  to  act  promptly  in  emergencies,  and 
thus  mutually  help  each  other  in  labor  difficulties  by  bring- 
ing to  bear  at  once  the  combined  influence  of  all  labor  organ- 
izations to  effect  a  settlement."    No  city  central  labor  union 
^    however,  has  the  right  to  inaugurate  a  strike  until  the  proper 
authorities  of  the  national  body  or  bodies  concerned  have 
given  their  consent.     City  central  labor  unions  frequently 
exert  considerable  political  influence  in  municipal  politics  and 
government;    and  they  aid  m  molding  public  sentiment  in 
favor  of  unions  and  of  imionism. 

In  1 9 19  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  included  in 
national  and  international  ^  trade  unions,  46  state  federa- 
tions  of  labor,  816  city  central  labor  unions,  884  "local  trade 
and  federal  labor  unions"  unaffiliated  with  a  national  or  inter- 
national body,  and  5  "departments."  The  Federation  recog- 
nizes the  autonomy  of  each  national  or  international  union; 
and  the  ultimate  source  of  authority  in  the  organization  is 
found  in  these  affiliated  bodies.  At  the  annual  convention 
of  the  American  Federation  each  national  union  is  allowed  one 
delegate  for  each  four  thousand  paid-up  members,  or  for  any 
fraction  of  that  number.  For  example,  a  national  union 
having  three  thousand  members  would  be  allowed  one  dele- 
gate; if  the  membership  were  seven  thousand  five  hundred, 
it  would  be  allowed  two.     State  federations,  city  central 

*  The  government  of  the  locals  and  of  the  national  bodies  will  be  considered 
in  Chapter  VI. 

*  There  is  no  marked  difference  between  a  national  and  an  international 
union.  The  latter  has  locals  in  Canada  and  Mexico  as  well  as  in  the  United 
States.    A  national  body  may  also  have  outside  locals. 


THE  PERIOD  OF  NATIONAL  ORGANIZATION 


79 


unions,  federal  labor  unions,  and  local  unions  having  no 
national  union  may  send  one  delegate  each.  At  the  1909 
convention  14,383  out  of  a  total  of  14,497  votes  were  ac- 
credited to  the  national  and  international  bodies.  In  1919, 
the  number  was  31,829  out  of  32,159  votes.  The  officers  of 
the  Federation  are  elected  at  the  annual  convention.  They 
consist  of  a  president,  eight  vice-presidents,  a  secretary,  and 
a  treasurer.  These  officers  also  constitute  the  executive 
council.  The  term  of  office  is  one  year.  The  headquarters 
of  the  Federation  are  located  m  Washington,  D.C. 

According  to  its  constitution,  the  chief  purposes  ol  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor  are  to  knit  the  national  and 
international  labor  unions  together  for  mutual  assistance,  to 
encourage  the  sale  of  union  label  articles,  to  secure  legislation 
favorable  to  the  interests  of  the  working  people,  to  influence 
public  opinion  in  favor  of  organized  labor,  to  aid  and  encour- 
age the  labor  press,  and  to  aid  in  the  formation  of  local  imions. 
The  revenue  of  the  Federation  is  derived  from  a  per  capita 
assessment  upon  the  members  of  all  affiliated  bodies.  Inter- 
national and  national  unions  pay  one  cent  per  member  per 
month;  local  trade  unions  and  federal  labor  unions  pay 
twenty  cents  per  member  per  month,  but  one-fourth  of 
this  amount  must  be  set  aside  to  be  used  only  in  case  of  a 
strike  or  lockout;  city  central  unions  and  state  federations 
pay  ten  dollars  per  year.  The  executive  council  of  the  Fed- 
eration has  the  power  to  levy  one  cent  per  member  per  week 
on  all  affiliated  unions,  for  a  period  of  not  more  than  ten 
weeks  for  the  support  of  an  affiliated  national  union  en- 
gaged in  a  strike.  During  the  period  1881  to  1886  inclu- 
sive, the  annual  income  of  the  Federation  varied  from  $125 
to  $690.  In  1890  it  was  $23,849;  in  1900,  $71,126;  and  in 
1909,  $232,378.  The  receipts  for  1909  were  exceeded  only 
by  those  of  1903;  in  the  latter  year  the  receipts  were 
$247,803.    The  expenditures  for  the  year  1909  were  $203,702, 


y 


y^ 


\ 


V 


80    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

of  which  $41,852  was  spent  to  aid  the  United  Hatters.  By 
IQ19,  the  total  yearly  expenditures  of  the  American  Federation 
of  Labor  had  increased  to  $587,518,  or  the  total  expenditures 
were  nearly  threefold  those  of  1909. 

The  aims,  ideals,  and  government  of  the  Federation  are 
almost  diametrically  opposite  to  those  of  the  Knights  of 
Labor.  The  former  is  a  federation  of  trade  unions,  although 
some  industrial  unions  are  now  included.  Theoretically  the 
Federation  favors  a  trade  union  rather  than  an  industrial 
union;  but  in  practice  its  policy  has  been  opportunist.  If  a 
strong  organization  like  the  United  Mine  Workers  or  the 
Brewery  Workers  has  demanded  that  it  be  allowed  to  organ- 
ize all  workers  in  the  industry,  tlie  Federation  has  yielded  to 
the  pressure.  The  authority  of  the  Federation  officials  is  not 
great.  A  highly  centralized  organization  like  the  Knights  of 
Labor  is  able  to  exert  political  power  more  effectively  than  a 
decentralized  federation  of  trade  unions.  Until  recently  the 
Federation  has  refrained  from  partisan  political  activity;  but 
bitter  opposition  is  forcing  it  into  politics.^  The  American 
Federation  of  Labor  has  made  no  attempt  to  organize  co- 
operative establishments.  An  industrial  union  or  such  an 
organization  as  the  Knights  of  Labor,  including  many  differ- 
ent kinds  of  craftsmen,  is  structurally  well  qualified  to  start 
cooperative  enterprises;  but  a  weak  federation  of  trade  unions 
is  not. 

In  principle,  the  Knights  of  Labor  opposed  the  use  of  the 
strike  and  favored  the  resort  to  arbitration.  In  1880  it  was 
officially  declared  that  '' strikes  are  as  a  rule  productive  of 
more  injury  than  benefit  to  the  working  people,  consequently 
all  attempts  to  foment  strikes  will  be  discouraged.'*  But  as 
the  order  grew,  resorts  to  strikes  became  frequent.  In  that 
organization,  centrally  controlled,  a  strike  could  be  enlarged 
into  a  general  strike  of  all  of  the  employees  of  a  given  estab- 

1  See  Chapter  XIX, 


THE  PERIOD  OF  NATIONAL  ORGANIZATION         81 

lishment.  On  the  other  hand,  the  American  Federation  has 
consistently  maintained  that  the  strike,  the  boycott,  and  the 
unfair  list  are  legitimate  and  necessary  weapons  of  organized 
labor;  but  being  only  an  advisory  body,  positive  and  direct 
action  cannot  emanate  from  it.  Strikes  may  be  ordered  by 
one  trade  against  a  given  employer,  and  other  craftsmen 
affiliated  with  the  strikers  through  the  Federation  may  con- 
tinue to  work  for  the  same  employer. 

Originally,  the  American  Federation  was  a  loose  grouping 
of  compact  and  self-governing  national  trade  unions.  The 
trade  or  craft,  not  the  industry  as  a  whole,  was  the  significant 
fact.  In  recent  years,  certain  pregnant  changes  have  been 
going  on  within  the  Federation.  Twentieth  century  industrial 
methods  are  surely  and  rapidly  destroying  the  importance 
of  the  trade  or  craft  in  industry.  Concentration  and  inte- 
gration in  the  industrial  world  have  been  forcing  a  new  policy 
upon  the  conservative  and  reluctant  leaders  of  the  Federation. 
Recent  difficulties  (1920)  with  recalcitrant  insurgents  within 
different  organizations  will  doubtless  lead  to  more  rapid 
adjustments.  The  future  of  the  Federation  formed  as  a 
weapon  of  the  affiliated  trade  unions,  depends  upon  its  ability 
to  adjust  itself  to  a  situation  which  demands  the  partial 
erasure  of  craft  demarcations  in  labor  organizations,  to  a 
situation  which  calls  for  some  form  of  industrial  or  amal- 
gamated unionism  rather  than  craft  unionism. 

The  United  Mine  Workers,  the  Brewery  Workers  and  the 
International  Union  of  Mill,  Mine  and  Smelter  Workers  are 
industrial  unions.  The  organization  of  departments  within 
the  American  Federation  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  about 
harmonious  relations  between  certain  allied  trades  or  occu- 
pations is  symptomatic  of  change.  Certain  amalgamations 
of  similar  trade  groups  within  the  Federation  are  also  indica- 
tions of  new  tendencies.  The  carpenters,  for  example,  are 
reaching  out  in  an  effort  to  absorb  or  amalgamate  into  their 


! 


llj 


■i 


82    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

organization  all  wood  workers.  More  and  more  interest  is 
being  manifested  in  the  unionization  of  the  unskilled  and  the 
Negroes.  In  short,  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  in 
response  to  changes  in  industry,  is  being  gradually  modified 
from  a  federation  of  old-line  trade  unions  into  a  federation  of 
amalgamated  and  industrial  unions.  In  fact,  there  must  be 
adjustment  or  there  will  be  decay  and  displacement.^ 

The  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World.  This  is  an  ultra- 
radical labor  organization;  it  represents  the  American  Bol- 
shevist or  syndicalist  group.  Its  ambitious  aim  is  to  unite 
all  of  the  workers  of  the  nation  into  an  industrial  union  com- 
mitted to  bitter  opposition  to  the  present  industrial  and 
political  order.  Its  problem  is  to  organize  "one  big  union" 
by  means  of  which  the  workers  may  be  able  simultaneously 
and  repeatedly  to  cease  working  in  one,  several  or  even  all 
industries.  The  leaders  of  this  aggressive  militant  organiza- 
tion declare  that  unions  grouped  according  to  trades  cannot 
cope  successfully  with  large  organizations  of  capital.  The 
American  Federation  of  Labor  accepts  the  present  industrial 
order  and  is  trying  to  make  good  wage  bargains  with  em- 
ployers; the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World  vehemently 
demands  the  abolition  of  the  wage  system  and  the  elimination 
of  the  employer.  This  organization  was  formed  in  1905. 
Soon  after  its  formation,  a  bitter  factional  fight  occurred. 
As  a  consequence,  another  organization  was  brought  into 
being.  The  constitution  was  changed  so  as  to  make  it  clear 
that  the  I.W.W.  carried  on  its  struggle  against  the  existing 
order  only  on  the  industrial  field;  political  action  was  re- 
pudiated. In  August,  1910,  the  secretary-treasurer  stated 
that  the  paid-up  membership  was  5863.  The  financial 
resources  were  inconsiderable.  "Our  policy,"  wrote  the 
secretary,   "is  not  to  have  any  as  far  as  that  is  concerned,  as 

1  See  Carlton,  "The  Changing  American  Federation  of  Labor,"  The  Survey, 
November  21,  1914;  also,  Organized  Labor  in  American  History,  pp.  231-249. 


THE  PERIOD  OF  NATIONAL  ORGANIZATION         ^^ 

we  do  not  ever  intend  to  have  a  treasury  built  up  that  will 
be  an  invitation  for  the  employing  class  to  confiscate."  In 
January,  1917,  the  paid-up  membership  was  said  to  have  been 
60,000;  and  an  aggregate  of  300,000  membership  cards  had 
been  issued  since  1905.^  Its  membership  is  not  stable;  few 
of  the  type  of  men  who  are  attracted  into  this  organization 
are  able  or  willing  regularly  to  pay  dues.  In  fact,  the  strength 
of  the  I.W.W.  cannot  accurately  be  measured  by  dues-paying 
membership  or  by  the  resources  in  its  treasury. 

The  other  branch,  until  recently  known  as  the  Detroit 
branch  of  the  I.W.W.,  consists  of  a  small  group  of  ultra- 
radicals very  closely  connected  with  the  Socialist  Labor 
Party.  The  members  of  this  organization  also  believe  that 
"the  working  class  and  the  employing  class  have  nothing  in 
common";  but  they  favor  the  organization  of  toilers  on  the 
political  as  well  as  on  the  industrial  field.  They  fight  on  both 
fronts.  The  Detroit  branch  does  not  countenance  the  use 
of  violence.  Its  membership  is  small.  At  the  annual  con- 
vention of  19 13,  twelve  delegates  were  present;  and,  in  191 5, 
seven  delegates  appeared  and  also  three  non-voting  officers. 
At  the  latter  convention,  the  name  of  the  organization 
was  changed  to  "The  Workers'  International  Industrial 
Union." 

The  Industrial  Workers  may  be  compared  with  the  Knights 
of  Labor  shorn  of  their  idealism  and  saturated  with  class- 
conscious  socialism.  The  government  of  this  organization 
is,  like  that  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  highly  centralized.  The 
government  is  in  the  hands  of  the  annual  convention  and  a 
general  executive  board,  subject,  however,  to  a  referendum  ' 
to  the  entire  membership.  The  general  executive  board  or 
the  convention  may  order  a  strike  and  the  board  may  call 
out  any  other  unions  if  it  is  deemed  advisable.  The 
scheme  of  organization  is  similar  to  the  plan  of  an  indus- 

»  Brissenden,  The  I.W.W.,  p.  339. 


#1 


!l 


84    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORG.\NIZED  LABOR 

trial   establishment.      In   the   case   of   a   large  steel   plant 
employing  several  thousands  of  workers,  an  industrial  union 
would  be  formed  in  which  all  the  workers  of  the  plant  would 
be  gathered.    As  the  plant  is  divided  into  departments,  the 
union  would  be  divided  into  branches.    The  workers  in  one 
department  would  be  gathered  into  one  branch;    but  the 
branches  are  to  be  strictly  subordinate  to  the  union  cover- 
ing the  entire  establishment.    Craft  lines  are  entirely  oblit- 
erated, and  a  departmenUl  grouping  is  adopted.    In  the 
sewing-machine  industry,  for  example,  the  Industrial  Workers 
propose  to  group  all  workers  in  the  various  factories,— 
woodworkers,  machinists,  coremakers,  molders,  and  so  on, 
into  one  industrial  union  of  sewing-machine  workers.    Indus- 
trial unions  in  a  large  number  of  plants  located  in  a  given 
geographical  district  may  be  grouped  into  a  district  council. 
Industrial  unions  may  be  also  united  in  departments.    The 
Department    of    Metal   and    Machinery    Industries   would 
include  blast-furnace  workers,  locomotive  builders,  agricul- 
tural implement  makers,  and  many  others.    The  functions  of 
the  district  councils  and  of  the  departments  are  adminis- 
trative; these  bodies  are  distinctly  subordinate  to  the  will  of 
the  entire  membership  as  expressed  through  the  annual  con- 
vention and  the  executive  board. 

Such  are  the  general  outlines  of  the  comprehensive  scheme 
prepared  by  this  embryonic  organization.  The  advocates  of 
industrial  unionism  point  out  that  this  scheme  corresponds  to 
the  facts  of  modern  industry.  Craft  unionism  was  adapted 
to  small  scale  industry  in  the  days  preceding  concentration 
and  integration  in  industry;  but  is  obsolete  at  the  present 
time.  The  employing  corporation  today  controls  a  variety 
of  workers  of  various  crafts,  skilled  and  unskilled.  Labor 
organizations,  the  argument  runs,  must  likewise  include  in 
one  compact  union  all  the  skilled  and  unskilled  workers  em- 
ployed by  that  corporation.     In  the  case  of  a  labor  dispute, 


THE  PERIOD  OF  NATIONAL  ORGANI/.AIION 


85 


an  industrial  union  could  paralyze  a  given  industry.  All 
workers  could  be  simultaneously  called  out.  The  Industrial 
Workers  of  the  World  care  Uttle  about  recognition  of  the 
union;  they  object  to  signing  wage  contracts  with  their  em- 
ployers which  will  in  any  way  interfere  with  the  sympathetic 
strike  or  with  the  right  to  strike  at  an  opportune  moment; 
and  they  emphasize  the  idea  of  the  solidarity  of  all  wage 

earners. 

American  I.W.W-ism,  French  syndicalism,  and  Russian 
Bolshevism  have  much  in  common;  these  three  forms  of 
ultra-radicalism  represent  in  essence  the  same  set  of  theories 
and  activities.  The  methods  employed  by  revolutionists  and 
the  philosophies  involved  are  products  of  the  past  experience 
of  the  peoples  concerned.  The  peculiar  tone  and  form  of 
ultra-radicalism  grow  naturally  and  inevitably  out  of  the 
nation's  past  and  present.  Bolshevism  is  a  form  of  revolu- 
tionary propaganda  indigenous  to  Russia  with  its  dark  and 
repulsive  background  of  absolutism,  terrorism,  and  ignorance. 
Our  much-feared  I.W.W-ism  is  the  American  counterpart  of 
Russian  Bolshevism.  The  philosophy  and  the  theories  of 
the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World  vary  in  certain  aspects 
from  the  philosophy  and  theories  of  Bolshevism;  it  has  been 
nourished  in  a  very  different  soil  and  atmosphere.  Again, 
syndicalism  is  the  corresponding  cult  evolved  under  the 
particular  social  and  industrial  environment  found  in  the 
republic  of  France. 

The  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World  as  well  as  the  syndi- 
calists and  Bolshevists  do  not  believe  in  representative 
government;  they  hold  that  '' democracy  is  a  social  super- 
fluity." The  ultra-radicals  are  not  adverse  to  the  use  of 
violence  in  order  to  accomplish  their  ends.  According  to 
the  syndicalist,  progress  comes  through  revolution  or  catas- 
trophy.    Socialists  believe  in  the  ballot   box  and   do   not 


u 


n 


V 


V 


86    HISTORY   AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

approve  of  violence  except  as  a  last  resort.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  I.  W.  W.  leaders  would  *' strike  at  the  ballot  box 
with  an  ax." 

It  is  very  difficult  for  the  average  American  to  discuss 
calmly  and  fairly  the  theory  of  Bolshevism  or  of  I.W.VV-ism. 
And  it  is  still  more  difficult  for  the  majority  of  middle-class 
Americans  to  understand  or  even  to  try  to  get  the  point  of 
view  of  ultra-radicals  who  scoff  at  practically  everything  that 
the  former  cherishes.     The  restless  and  bitter  member  of 
the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World  is  almost  the  opposite 
in  personal   characteristics  of   the   complacent '  middle-class 
American;    they  have  little  in  common.     The  basic  idea  in 
the  doctrine  of  the  revolutionary  groups  we  are  studying 
is  that  of  a  bitter  class  struggle.     The  Bolshevist  does  not 
deplore   the   class   struggle.     To   the   syndicalist,   the   class 
struggle  is  a  necessary  and  a  creative  force.     It  tends,  ac- 
cording to  the  revolutionist,  to  solidify  and  strengthen  the 
masses  for  the  eventual  battle  which  is  to  overthrow  com- 
pletely the  present  social  order.     The  Bolshevist  feels  that 
in  Russia  he  has  accomplished  the  primary  purpose  which 
the  revolutionists  hold  dear.    After  the  social  revolution  the 
problem  of  the  syndicalist  is  that  of  eliminating  all  classes 
except  the  proletariat.    All  are  to  be  leveled  into  one  great 
class,  controlled  apparently  by  the  Bolshevist  or  syndicalist 
leaders,  by  the  revolutionary  elect. 

These  revolutionary  movements  strike  hard  at  all  that 
the  middle-class  considers  sacred  or  desirable.  The  ultra- 
radical wishes  his  movement  to  be  purely  working  class.  The 
cornerstone  of  society  is  a  productive  group  —  in  the  estima- 
tion of  the  Bolshevist.  In  Russia  the  Bolshevist  movement 
flourishes  principally  among  the  industrial  workers  of  the 
cities.  The  American  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World  is 
composed  largely  of  unskilled  and  migratory,  or  drifting, 


THE   PERIOD   OF  NATIONAL  ORGANIZATION         87 

workers.  The  workshop  group  is  to  replace  political  parties. 
Patriotism  is  frowned  upon;  it  is  held  to  be  a  middle  class 
virtue,  and  therefore  bad.  ^^The  workingman's  country  is 
where  he  finds  work."  Economic  interest  is  the  only  tie, 
according  to  the  revolutionists  of  the  type  we  are  studying' 
which  can  firmly  bind  men  together.  All  other  ties,  such  as 
nationality  or  race,  are  illusions  fostered  by  the  despised 
middle  class. 

Private  property  rights  are  sneered  at  as  inventions  of  the 
middle  class.    Vincent  St.  John,  a  prominent  member  of  the 
Industrial  Workers  of  the  World,  in  his  testimony  before  the 
Federal  Commission  on  Industrial  Relations,  in  essence  said: 
"Why  should  we  hesitate  about  destroying  property?    It  is 
not  ours.     Instead,  the  employer  uses  it  to  our  disadvantage 
whenever  he  can.     Furthermore,  he  isn't  careful  about  our 
property,  our  physical  and  mental  power,  the  only  property 
we  have.     He  sends  us  into  the  mines  as  children  without  a 
semblance  of  an  education,  speeds  us  up,  underpays  us,  wears 
out  our  bodies,  and  then,  without  a  thought  for  our  well- 
being,  throws  us  on  the  scrap  heap  or  abandons  us  to  the  poor- 
house  when  we  are  no  longer  useful." 

Americans  have  complacently  asserted  that  the  middle 
class  throughout  our  history  has  constituted  the  backbone 
of  American  society.  The  average  citizen  has  felt  that  the 
ideals  of  America  are  those  fostered  by  the  great  middle  class. 
The  following  quotations  from  one  of  the  intellectuals  among 
American  revolutionists  may  come  as  a  distinct  shock  to  some. 
Certainly  here  is  disclosed  a  point  of  view  which  is  very,  very 
different  from  that  so  often  expressed  by  well-known  Ameri- 
cans living  and  dead:  -The  middle  class  is  a  natural-born 
palterer.  Fearful  of  going  wrong,  it  doesn't  go.  .  .  .  The 
middle  class  mind  makes  for  mediocrity.  Let  this  pestilence 
gam  entrance  in  a  nation,  it  is  all  up  with  the  people.    To 


it 


I  * 


i  'I 


V 


88    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

be  comfortable  becomes  for  them  life's  be-all  and  end-all.  .  .  . 
They  settle  into  gregarious  nonentity  —  ciphers,  blanks,  nega- 
tives. Trimmers,  who  run  with  the  hare  and  hunt  with  the 
hounds  and  are  blotted  into  one  mass  of  indistinction.  .  .  . 
The  middle  class  is  a  '  betwixt  and  betweener.'  It  is  always 
on  the  fence.  The  effect  of  middle-classism  is  seen  *  in  nar- 
cotizing the  soul  and  putting  heroism  to  sleep.'"  ^  This  is 
not  pleasant  reading  for  those  of  us  who  claim  to  be  members 
of  the  middle  class. 

The  revolutionist  believes  that  his  ideal  makes  a  fine  appeal 
to  the  heroic  and  altruistic  in  man.  *'  Man  is  not  so  exhausted 
as  to  act  reasonably."  Progress  comes  in  the  "clash  of  ir- 
reconcilables."  The  militant  in  man  is  appealed  to;  com- 
promise is  scouted  as  the  policy  of  the  weakling  and  the 
mollycoddle.  Society  is  to  be  altered  and  regenerated  by  a 
fierce  struggle.  And  after  the  smoke  of  the  social  revolution 
has  cleared  away,  apparently  a  Utopia  of  some  not  well-defined 
sort  is  to  be  anticipated.  But  Russia  is  far  from  being  a 
Utopia  under  the  regime  of  the  Bolshevists.  As  a  consequence 
of  the  emphasis  upon  the  militant  in  life,  the  class  struggle 
and  the  general  strike  are  looked  upon  with  favor.  Any 
measure  which  will  stimulate  class  antipathy,  which  will  aid 
in  giving  the  workers  a  vision  of  working-class  solidarity,  will 
help  in  carrying  out  the  "great  and  sublime  mission  of  reno- 
vating the  world."  A  strike  is  considered  to  be  a  means  of 
harassing  the  employing  class  and  of  giving  solidarity  to  the 
workers.  According  to  the  syndicalist,  there  should  be  no 
careful  middle-class-like  weighing  of  the  consequence  of  a 
strike.  It  should  come  as  a  hot  outburst  of  passion.  A 
strike  should  spell  sacrifice  in  a  common  cause,  and  out  of 
sacrifice  grows  working-class  unity  and  enthusiasm. 

The  following  statement  clearly  presents  in  a  few  words  the 

»  White,  The  Carpenter  and  the  Rich  Man,  Ch.  8. 


THE   PERIOD  OF  NATIONAL  ORGANIZATION 


89 


'<t? 


theory  of  the  syndicalist:  "The  syndicalist  is  to  prepare  for 
a  new  world  in  which  he,  the  producer,  will  have  the  upper 
hand,  and  the  other  class,  overcome  by  means  of  the  general 
strike,  will  be  forced  to  capitulate.  In  that  new  world  there 
will  be  no  authority  either  of  the  State  or  of  masters.  All 
work  will  be  looked  upon  of  one  value;  property  will  be 
abolished;  men  will  be  associated  in  small  federated  groups."  ^ 
William  D.  Haywood,  the  militant  American  I.W.W.-ist, 
presents  this  view  of  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World: 
"One  great  organization  —  big  enough  to  take  in  the  black 
man;  big  enough  to  obliterate  national  boundaries,  and  one 
which  will  become  the  great  industrial  force  of  the  working 
class  of  the  world."  Society,  the  old-line  trade  union,  and 
too  often  the  church,  have  forgotten  the  common  man,  the 
unblessed,  the  workers  at  the  bottom  of  the  heap.  The 
I.W.W.  appeals  to  such  because  of  the  emphasis  upon 
brotherhood.  Its  leaders  skilfully  connect  the  general  strike 
and  industrial  chaos  "with  the  overarching  thought  of  a  world 
brotherhood." 

What  are  the  kind  of  people  attracted  by  the  I.W.W. 
propaganda?  "The  I.W.W.  taps  labor  strata  not  only  lower 
than  those  from  which  Socialism  generally  gets  recruits. 
It  appeals  to  youth,  to  the  most  detached  and  irresponsible, 
to  those  free  to  follow  a  life  of  adventure.  It  appeals  to  those 
who  rebel  at  the  discipline  of  the  trade  union.  It  easily  be- 
comes a  brother  to  the  tramp  and  the  outcast.  Every  differ- 
ence which  a  heterogeneous  and  unassimilated  immigration 
means  for  the  United  States  will  advantage  the  I.W.W. 
Local,  legal,  and  other  authorities,  during  the  last  two  years 
[1911-IQ12]  in  the  United  States,  have  done  more  for  the 
growth  of  this  revolutionary  group,  shading  into  anarchy, 
than  it  has  done  for  itself."  - 


*  Lewis,  Syndicalism  and  the  General  Strike,  pp.  11-12. 

*  Brooks,  The  I.W.W.,  pp.  21-22. 


H 


ft 


1-    i  (; 


i:|- 


>i 


I  ! 


I 


i 


V 


90    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

The  man  unblessed  by  the  ties  which  normally  make  up 
the  warp  and  woof  of  orderly  society  is  in  the  proper  frame 
of  mind  to  accept  the  schemes  of  prefervid  agitators.  Schemes 
which  promise  an  immediate  Utopia  are  especially  welcome 
and  alluring.  A  period  of  national  stress  and  strain,  such  as 
the  Great  War  and  the  period  of  readjustment  immediately 
following  constitute,  contributes  to  the  social  and  psycho- 
logical elements  making  for  irritation,  discontent,  and  the 
resort  to  violent  remedies. 

The  increase  in  the  number  of  propertyless  and  nomadic  or 
drifting  workers  is  adding  to  the  combustible  material  sought 
by  the  revolutionary  agitator.  The  United  States  cannot 
continue  peaceful  and  prosperous  with  a  large  and  increasing 
number  of  I.W.W.'s,  fanatical  and  ready  for  violent  opposi- 
tion to  the  ideals  and  institutions  of  the  nation.  Bolshevism 
is  a  social  ill,  nourished  and  spawned  in  poverty,  inequality 
of  opportunity,  injustice,  and  harsh  treatment.  If  it  be  true 
that  approximately  ''two-thirds  of  our  people  have  no  capital 
except  the  clothes  on  their  backs  and  a  little  furniture  and 
personal  belongings,"  we  as  a  nation  are  face  to  face  with  a 
situation  which  furnishes  grave  elements  of  danger.  Such 
statistics  are  portents  of  social  danger;  they  are  danger 
signals  which  cannot  safely  be  neglected. 

It  is  too  much  to  expect  men  to  act  conservatively  and 
according  to  customary  procedure  when  they  have  little  or 
no  opportunity  for  the  normal  expression  of  human  wants  and 
desires.  If  they  are  unable  to  satisfy  the  instinct  for  food  or 
for  self-asservation,  they  will  inevitably  become  biased, 
gnarled,  knotted,  and  perverse  individuals.  To  make  them 
more  like  the  well-to-do  conservative,  the  unblessed  must 
be  made  well-to-do.  The  much-abused  and  much-feared 
I.  W.  W.  is  composed  largely  of  men  whose  instincts  for 
family  life,  for  the  acquisition  of  property,  for  contrivance  or 


THE  PERIOD  OF  NATIONAL  ORGANIZATION 


91 


workmanship,  and  for  self-assertion  have  been  inhibited. 
Keen  observers  have  noted  the  growth  of  "sullen  hostility" 
toward  the  employing  class  on  the  part  of  the  migratory 
workers.  The  great  group  of  migratory,  or  nomadic,  workers 
have  lost  the  incentives  and  the  point  of  view  which  places 
emphasis  upon  workmanlike  qualities.  They  are  drifting  and 
rootless  workers  who  are  hostile  to  employers,  to  organized 
society,  and  to  the  ideals  which  the  middle  class  and  the  more 
conservative  type  of  workmen  blessed  with  home  ties  and  a 
stake  in  life  hold  in  high  esteem.^ 

Women's  Trade  Unions,  Women  are  admitted  to  mem- 
bership in  many  trade  unions  affiliated  in  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor.  In  some  cases,  separate  locals  are  main- 
tained; in  others,  both  men  and  women  belong  to  the  same 
local.  Up  to  1920,  however,  no  woman  had  obtained  a  place 
on  the  Executive  Council  of  the  Federation.  Women  form 
a  large  percentage  of  the  membership  of  unions  organized  in 
the  garment-making  trades,  laundry  work,  the  manufacture 
of  hats  and  caps,  the  tobacco  industry,  and  bookbinding. 
In  1903,  the  National  Women's  Trade  Union  League  was 
organized.  It  now  has  about  a  dozen  city  leagues  subordinate 
to  the  national  body.  The  League  is  endorsed  by  the  Ameri- 
can Federation  of  Labor.  Its  platform  is,  in  brief:  "Or- 
ganization of  all  workers  into  trade  unions.  Equal  pay  for 
equal  work.  An  eight-hour  day.  A  minimum  wage  scale. 
Full  citizenship  for  women."  The  national  body  and  the 
city  leagues  work  in  harmony  with  the  American  Federation 
of  Labor,  to  which  they  are  really  auxiliaries.  The  Federa- 
tion has  financially  assisted  the  Women's  Trade  Union  League 
in  its  work.     The  League  publishes  a  magazine  and  issues 

*  With  a  few  minor  changes,  the  discussion  of  the  theories  of  The  I.W.W. 
is  taken  from  an  article  by  the  writer,  entitled  "The  Theory  of  Bolshevism" 
in  The  Bay  View  Magazine,  March,  1920. 


^ 


I 


Is:     i 


* 


.'       V 


Hi 


92     HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

Other  literature.     It  has  conducted  a  school  for  the  purpose  of 
training  women  to  be  organizers  and  leaders.     Trade  union 
men  as  well  as  women  are  connected  with  the  League;   and 
many  individuals  and  organizations  not  a  part  of  the  labor 
movement  are  affiliated.    The  organization  of  The  American 
Federation  of  Teachers  is  another  indication  of  the  increasing 
tendency  of  women  workers  to  join  unions.     This  organiza- 
tion of  teachers,  bringing  professional  men  and  women  into 
a  labor  organization,  was  caused  primarily  by  a  movement 
toward  extreme  centralization  of  authority  in  school  matters. 
The  teachers  did  not  desire  to  be  autocratically  and  arbi- 
trarily controlled  by  the  superintendent  of  schools.     It  is 
now  being  used  as  a  weapon  in  the  struggle  to  secure  higher 
salaries. 

Employers'  Associations,     Capitalists  combine  in  a  variety 
of  forms,  —  associations,  exchanges,  pools,  corporations,  and 
trusts.     These  forms  have  developed  under  the  pressure  of 
competition  and  opposition  as  measures  of  self-defense.     They 
frequently  have  become  monopolies  inimical  to  the  general 
public.    These  various  associations  of  capitalists  use  methods 
similar  to  those  used  by  labor  organizations  in  admitting  and 
rejecting  members.     Each  boycotts,  uses  spies  or  pickets, 
strives  to  regulate  output,  and  to  fix  minimum  wages  or  prices! 
The  so-called  employers'  association  is  merely  one  form  of  or- 
ganization  of  capitalists  or  employers.     The  pool,  associa- 
tion, or  trust  is  formed  to  deal  with  all  sorts  of  technical  and 
financial  matters,  —  buying,  producing,  and  marketing.    The 
employers'  association  is  a  combination  of  business  establish- 
ments for  the  express  purpose  of  dealing  with  or  fighting 
labor  organizations.     It  is  merely  a  special  form  of  capitalis- 
tic organization.     Local  and  national  employers'  associations 
have  appeared  simultaneously  with  local  and  national  or- 
ganizations of  wage  earners. 


THE  PERIOD   OF  NATIONAL  ORGANIZATION         93 

United  and  concerted  efforts  on  the  part  of  wage  workers 
lead  to  the  unification  of  the  employers  and  vice  versa. 
During  the  trade  union  activity  of  the  thirties  and  of  the 
sixties,  small  and  ephemeral  employers'  associations  appeared 
to  oppose  the  labor  organizations.  Like  the  labor  unions  of 
those  decades,  the  associations  of  employers  were  usually 
local  and  not  controlled  by  a  strong  central  authority.  They 
were  organized  only  when  labor  was  temporarily  well  organ- 
ized and  aggressive.  With  the  weakening  of  the  union's 
strength,  the  bonds  which  held  the  competing  employers 
together  were  broken.  Strong  and  permanent  employers' 
associations  come  into  being  contemporaneously  with  national 
and  permanent  labor  organizations.  Indeed,  an  extensive 
system  of  collective  bargaining  or  of  trade  agreements  pre- 
supposes the  existence  of  an  organization  of  both  employers 
and  employees. 

Employers'  associations  are  of  two  rather  distinct  types.  / 
One  class  is  organized  in  order  to  bargain  successfully  with  ^ 
the  organizations  of  their  employers.  This  style  of  associa- 
tion recognizes  labor  organizations  to  be  legitimate  and  seeks 
to  work  more  or  less  in  harmony  with  them.  The  second 
class  is  bitterly  antagonistic  to  labor  organizations.  Although  '^ 
usually  declaring  that  they  are  favorable  to  ''legitimate" 
labor  organizations,  the  members  of  the  second  class  of  em- 
ployers' associations  are  actually  opposed  to  the  practices 
which  the  average  unionist  holds  essential  to  the  success  of 
organized  labor.  They  favor  unions  of  the  weak  type  which 
do  not  strenuously  strive  to  shorten  the  working  day  or  to 
raise  wages,  that  is,  they  favor  a  union  which  does  not  inter- 
fere with  large  profits  and  which  teaches  contentment  with 
existing  conditions.  The  first  type  aims  to  check  the  abuses 
and  excesses  of  organized  labor;  the  second  is  hostile  to  the 
fundamental  principles  of  unionism  and  wishes  to  extirpate 


j 

II 


94    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

or  emasculate  unionism.  The  trust  or  large  corporation 
does  not  need  to  enter  an  employers'  association;  it  is  itself 
virtually  such  an  association.  Our  great  railway  systems 
may  be  placed  in  the  first  class  of  associations.  The  United 
Steel  Corporation  must  be  placed  with  the  *' union  smashing" 
associations. 

As  long  as  wages  and  conditions  of  labor  are  fixed  by  means 
of  a  bargain  between  the  employers  and  their  employees,  a 
strong  union  should  be  balanced  by  a  strong  employers'  asso- 
ciation. A  strong  organization  of  either  employers  or  employ- 
ees, if  unchecked  by  an  opposing  organization,  will  inevitably 
make  unreasonable  and  excessive  demands.  Opposition  puri- 
fies a  political  party,  and  it  improves  the  character  of  an 
association  of  employers  or  of  wage  workers.  Since  the  first 
class  of  associations  is  formed  to  treat  with  labor  organiza- 
tions and  to  check  the  arrogance  of  unopposed  trade  union- 
ism, its  members  consider  the  employment  of  labor  to  be  a 
simple  business  proposition.  The  first  important  national 
association  of  employers  was  the  United  States  Potters'  Asso- 
ciation, formed  in  1875.  The  Stove  Founders'  National  De- 
fence Association  was  organized  in  1886.  The  success  of 
this  association  in  making  formal  wage  contracts  with  the 
employees  engaged  in  the  stove  industry^  stimulated  the 
formation  of  other  comprehensive  associations  of  employers. 
The  National  Founders'  Association  was  formed  in  1898, 
the  Dock  Managers'  Association  in  the  same  year,  and  the 
National  Metal  Trades'  Association  in  1899.  This  class  of 
organization  was  perhaps  most  prominent  in  the  middle  of 
the  first  decade  of  this  century.  In  1905,  "in  the  seven  great 
industries  of  stove  and  furnace  manufacturing,  metal  foundry 
work,  lake  transportation,  machine  construction,  publishing 
and  printing,  marble  cutting,  and  ready-made  clothing  manu- 

»  See  Chapter  X. 


THE  PERIOD  OF  NATIONAL  ORGANIZATION 


95 


facturing,  strong  national  associations  "treated  with  simi- 
larly organized  unions  of  employees,  and  drew  up  contracts 
relative  to  the  condition  of  labor  in  the  respective  industries."  ^ 
In  addition,  many  localized  associations  exist,  such  as  the 
association  of  coal  operators  which  treats  with  the  United 
Mine  Workers,  and  the  various  employers'  associations  in 
the  building  trades.  From  about  1909  to  191 7,  the  progress 
of  collective  bargaining  on  a  large  scale  met  serious  obstacles. 

Associations  of  this  class  are  federated  organizations  not 
dissimilar  in  t^'pe  to  those  of  labor  organizations.  "Almost 
every  important  feature  of  trade-union  organization  finds  its 
counterpart  in  the  employers'  organizations."  Each  has  a 
defense  fund;  each  controls  more  or  less  rigidly  its  members; 
each  employs  business  agents  called  walking  delegates  or 
commissioners;  each  is  organized  along  trade  lines  into  local 
and  national  bodies;  and  in  each  the  individual  on  becoming 
a  member  must  surrender  in  a  large  measure  his  right  to 
determine  the  conditions  under  which  his  work  as  employer 
or  employee  will  be  performed.^  It  has  been  pointed  out 
that  two  large  opposing  associations,  controlling  an  entire 
industry,  might  unite,  raise  prices,  and  divide  the  plunder 
between  themselves;  but  the  usual  effect  is  to  transfer  com- 
petition from  price-cutting  and  wage -slashing  to  competition 
in  regard  to  the  quality  of  the  product.^ 

The  class  of  organizations  hostile  to  organized  labor  is 
represented  by  such  national  bodies  as  the  National  Asso- 
ciation of  Manufacturers,  the  National  Council  for  Industrial 
Defense,  and  the  American  Anti-Boycott  Association,  now 
called  the  League  for  Industrial  Rights;  it  is  also  represented 

'  Willoughhy,  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics.     Vol.20:  115-116. 
*  Willoughby,  ibid.,  pp.  143-150. 

'  Contrast  Baker,  "Capital  and  Labor  Hunt  Together,"  in  McClure's  Maga- 
zine for  September,  1903,  with  the  section  on  Trade  Agreements  in  Chapter  X. 


V   t 


96    HISTORY  ANU  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

bv  city  associations  of  employers  or  "citizens'  alliances." 
These  anti-union  combinations  of  employers  have  conducted 
a  bitter  fight  agamst  the  sort  of  labor  organization  which  has 
teeth-   they  do  not  merely  oppose  the  revolutionary  umons 
such  'as  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World,  but  they  are 
antagonistic  to  the  American  Federation   type  of  union. 
"The  strike,  boycott  and  the  picket  were  to  be  met  by  the 
lockout,  the  blacUist,  the  employment  bureau  with  registra- 
tion of  laborers,   'fake'   unions,  strike  funds,  professiona 
strikebreakers,  and  spies."  ^    The  National  Association  of 
Manufacturers  was  organized  in  1895  for  the  chief  purpose 
of  building  up  export  trade  in  manufactured  goods.    A  few 
years  later  it  became  aggressive  in  its  opposition  to  orgamzed 
labor     The  National  Council  for  Industrial  Defense  was 
organized  in  1907.    Its  important  function  seems  to  have 
been  the  defeat  of  legislative  measures  proposed  by  labor. 
The  lobbying  tactics  of  the  National  Association  of  Manu- 
facturers were  disclosed  in  1913  by  M.  M.  Mulhall,  a  dis- 
charged employee  of  the  Association.    The  pronunciamentos 
of  the  leaders  of  these  three  anti-union  associations  are  not 
new    they  only  reecho  those  of  employers'  associations  of 
past  decades.    For  example,  in  1864  the  Iron  Founders  As- 
sociation of  Chicago  and  vicinity  declared  m  a  circular: 
"But  when  employees  seek  to  enter  the  sphere  of  employers 
and  to  dictate  to  them  in  the  management  of  their  business, 
it  becomes  not  only  the  right,  but  the  duly  o   employers  to 
check  and  suppress  such  movements  by  any  lawful  means. 
The  present  leaders  tell  us  that  unions  are  a  menace  to  in- 
stitutions when  they  insist  upon  the  closed  shop,  or  use  the 
"un-American"  boycott  and  that  organized  labor  is  tramphng 
"in  the  dust  the  natural  and  constitutional  rights  of  our 
citizens/' 

I  Wright,  Quarterly  Jourtial  of  Economics.    Vol.  29:  236. 


THE  PERIOD  OF  NATIONAL  ORGANIZATION 


97 


Two  other  associations  of  employers  may  be  briefly  con- 
sidered. The  National  Industrial  Conference  Board  was 
organized  in  1 916.  This  is  a  powerful  federation  of  employers' 
associations.  It  must  probably  be  classed  as  hostile  to  labor 
organizations.  The  industrial  bodies  which  originally  af- 
filiated to  form  the  Board  were:  —  the  National  Association 
of  Manufacturers,  the  National  Council  for  Industrial  De- 
fense, the  National  Erectors'  Association,  the  National  As- 
sociation of  Cotton  Manufacturers,  the  National  Association 
of  Wool  Manufacturers,  the  Silk  Association  of  America,  the 
United  Typo  the  tae  and  Franklin  Clubs  of  America,  the 
American  Paper  and  Pulp  Association,  and  the  Rubber  Club 
of  America.  In  19 19,  the  Board  was  composed  of  twenty- 
one  organizations  of  manufacturers,  —  representing  employers 
of  approximately  7,000,000  wage  workers.  According  to  its 
friends,  this  Board  was  organized  ''to  foster  harmonious 
relationship  between  employer  and  employees  and  between 
both  and  the  Government,"  for  lobbying  purposes,  as  a 
clearing  house  for  information,  and  as  a  forum  for  the  dis- 
cussion of  trade  topics.^ 

The  National  Civic  Federation  is  an  important  private 
association  devoted  to  the  promotion  of  industrial  peace. 
The  Civic  Federation  was  formed  in  January,  1901.  The 
late  Senator  M.  A.  Hanna  was  an  influential  member.  The 
avowed  object  of  the  Federation  is  to  develop  cooperation 
between  the  employers,  the  employed,  and  the  general  public. 
These  three  classes  are  represented  on  the  executive  committee 
of  the  organization.  The  employers  on  the  executive  com- 
mittee are  men  connected  with  some  of  the  large  and  power- 
ful industries  of  the  country.  The  following  statement  of  its 
aims  discloses  the  ideals  of  the  leaders  of  this  organization. 
The  National  Civic  Federation  "would  show  that  the  twin 


*  Pope,  American  Industries,  December,  1916,  p.  11. 


! 

C  i 


m 


W 


98    HISTORY   AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

foes  of  industrial  peace  are  the  anti-union  employers  and  the 
socialists,  and  that  the  former  are  unconsciously  promoting 
that  class  hatred  which  the  latter  boldly  advocates.  It  would 
present  a  hopeful  picture  of  future  harmony  between  labor 
and  capital,  based  upon  the  establishment  of  their  rightful 
relations,  instead  of  the  pessimistic  prophecy  of  the  degrada- 
tion of  labor  because  of  its  exceptional  and  inexcusable  errors 
or  crimes,  or  of  a  social  revolution  provoked  by  capital  when 
organized  for  oppression."  ^  The  Civic  Federation  apparently 
looks  forward  to  a  time  when  labor  and  capital  shall  work 
together  in  harmony  and  peace.  The  official  organ  of  the 
Federation  is  the  National  Civic  Federation  Review. 

The  increasing  opposition  to  labor  organizations  manifested 
in  recent  years  and  the  development  of  hostile  employers' 
associations  have  led  to  the  formation  of  businesses  devoted 
to  strike  breaking.     It  is  difficult  to  ascertain  the  extent  of 
this  anti-union  industry;   but  certainly  establishments  exist 
that  stand  ready  to  furnish  strike  breakers  and  union  spies. 
One  company  advertised  in  a  circular  sent  out  a  few  years 
ago  that  "  this  company  makes  a  specialty  of  furnishing  union 
and  non-union  men  and  women  of  all  trades  for  secret  service 
work."    It  offered  to  place  men  in  a  plant  for  $150  to  $175 
per  month  minus  the  ordinary  wages  to  be  paid  to  the  men 
on  the  regular  pay  days.     According  to  this  circular,  men  of 
good   standing   in   trade-union   circles   could  be   furnished. 
Reports  are  to  be  regularly  made  in  regard  to  disaffection  in 
a  plant  and  the  activities  of  union  men.     In  this  way,    "dis- 
turbers of  the  peace  are  located";   and  presently  they  may 
be  quietly  discharged.    Another  company  offered  to  furnish 
experienced  guards,  to  provide  non-union  workmen,  to  pro- 
vide cooks,  waiters,  and  managers  for  temporary  boarding 
houses  inside  of  plants  furnished  with  strike  breakers. 

»  Bliss,  New  Encyclopedia  of  Social  Reform. 


THE   PERIOD   OF  NATIONAL  ORGANIZATION 


99 


This  crude  and  coercive  method  of  fighting  unions  is  by 
no  means  the  only  way  in  which  excessive  union  activity  and 
the  growth  of  labor  solidarity  may  be  checked.  Until  recent 
decades  cheap  land  and  the  ever-present  possibility  or  proba- 
bility that  the  employee  might  become  a  small  employer, 
were  effective  means  of  alienating  the  ambitious  and  the  force- 
ful workers  from  enthusiastic  and  continuous  adherence  to 
the  policies  of  trade  unionism.  With  the  disappearance  of 
the  frontier  and  with  the  concentration  of  wealth  and  of  the 
control  of  business  affairs  into  the  hands  of  a  comparatively 
small  number  of  persons,  and  with  the  increasing  prevalence 
of  routine  and  regularity  in  industry,  not  only  were  the  tra- 
ditional outlets  for  the  ambitious  wage  earners  closed,  but 
many  who  under  a  more  crude  economy  would  have  been 
small  business  men  are  now  in  ranks  of  wage  earners.  Saga- 
cious captains  of  industry,  not  however  of  the  type  found  in 
the  union-smashing  employers'  associations,  soon  recognized 
that  a  substitute  outlet  must  be  provided,  or  they  would  soon 
be  forced  to  confront  strong  unions  managed  by  talented, 
devoted,  and  class-conscious  leaders.  Professor  Commons 
insists  that  promotion  and  political  preferment  are  the  im- 
portant outlets  for  the  ambitious  and  the  radical;  these  are 
the  effective  solvents  of  class  solidarity  among  the  workers. 
The  man  who  is  being  gradually  promoted,  or  who  sees  dan- 
gling before  his  eyes  a  political  job,  is  furnished  with  a  potent 
incentive  for  conservatism.  "Thus  it  is  that  a  wise  system 
of  promotion  becomes  another  branch  of  industrial  psy- 
chology. If  scientifically  managed,  as  is  done  by  the  great 
corporations,  it  produces  a  steady  evaporation  of  class  feel- 
ing. I  have  often  come  upon  fiery  socialists  and  ardent  trade 
unionists  thus  vaporized  and  transformed  by  this  elevating 


process. 


»'  1 


^  Commons,  Americati  J ourtial  of  Sociology.     Vol.13:  761. 


lOO    HISTORY   AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

In  1920,  it  seemed  clear  to  students  of  the  labor  situation 
that  the  program  of  the  union  smashing  associations  was  a 
failure.  Two  sets  of  fighting  and  bitterly  hostile  organizations 
cannot  bring  industrial  peace  or  industrial  efficiency.  The 
employer  or  association  of  employers,  willing  to  make  an 
honest  attempt  to  work  with  groups  of  employees  bound  to- 
gether in  unions  or  in  virile  shop  committees,  is  following  a 
constructive  policy.  Efficiency,  goodwill  and  mutual  respect 
cannot  be  obtained  by  repressive  measures,  by  injunctions, 
or  by  autocratic  control.* 


REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

Report  of  the  Industrial  Commission.     Vol.17:  1-422. 

Wright,  Industrial  Evolution  of  the  United  States.     Ch.  20. 

Hollander    and    Barnett,    Studies     in   American   Trade  Unionism. 
Ch.    12. 

Aldrich,  "The  American  Federation  of  Labor,"  Economic  Studies, 
Vol.  3,  No.  4  (A.  E.  A.). 

Powderly,  Thirty  Years  of  Labor. 

Groat,  Organized  Labor  in  America.     Chs.  5,  6,  26,  27,  and  2S. 

Ward,  The  Labor  Movement. 

Marot,  American  Labor  Unions.     Chs.  2,  3,  4,  and  5. 

Commons,  History  of  Labor  in  the  United  States.     Vol.  2,  Part  6. 

Beard,   A   Short  History   of  the   American   Labor   Movement.     Chs. 
8  and  9. 

Carlton,     "Ephemeral    Labor    Movements,     1866-1889,"    Popular 
Science  Monthly,  November,  19 14. 

Hinton,  "Labor  Organizations  in  187 1,"  Atlantic  Monthly j  187 1. 

Carlton,  "The  Changing  American  Federation  of  Labor,"  The  Survey, 
November  21,  19 14. 

Brooks,  American  Syndicalism:  The  I.  W.  W. 

1  For  a  further  development  of  this  idea,  see  Chapters  IX,  X  and  XIX. 


THE   PERIOD  OF  NATIONAL  ORG.VNIZATION       loi 

Parker,  "The  1.  W.  VV.,"  The  Atlantic  Monthly,  November,  1917. 
Brissenden,  The  I.  W.  W. 

Levine,  "The  Development  of  Syndicalism  in  America,"  Political 
Science  Quarterly.    Vol.  28:  474.     (1913.) 

Pease,  The  Forum,  August,  1913.     Gives  the  radical  point  of  view 


Types  of  Trade  Unions 

Commons,  "The  Longshoreman  of  the  Great  Lakes,"  Quarterly  Jour- 
nal of  Economics.    Vol.20:  59-85. 

Commons,  "Musicians  of  St.  Louis  and  New  York,"  ibid.     Vol.  20; 
419-442. 

Cease,  "Organizations  of  Railway  Employees,"  The  Outlook.    Vol. 
86:  503-510- 

Hard,  "The  Western  Federation  of  Miners,"  ibid.    Vol.  83:  125-133. 

Herron,  "Labor  Organization  among  Women,"  Bulletin  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Illinois.     May,  1905. 

Schluter,  The  Brewing  Industry  and  the  Brewery  Workers^  Movement 
in  .America. 

Robbins,  The  Conductors.     (Columbia  University  Studies.) 

Barnett,  The  Printers.     (American  Economic  Association,   1909.) 

Deibler,   Amalgamated  Association  of  Wood  Workers.     (Bulletin  of 
University  of  Wisconsin.) 

Hoagland,    "Rise    of    Iron    Workers    International    Association," 
American  Economic  Renew,  June,   19 13. 

Andrews  and  Bliss,  "A  History  of  Women  in  Trade  Unions,"  Report 
on  the  Condition  of  Women  and  Child  Wage  Earners.    Vol.  10. 

Employers^  Associations 

WiWoughhy,  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics.    Vol.20:  1 10-150. 

Andrews,  The  Commons,  June,  1905. 

Mitchell,  Organized  Labor.     Ch.  22. 

Adams  and  Sumner,  Labor  Problems,  pp.  279-285. 

Oilman,  Methods  of  Industrial  Peace.     Ch.  3. 


11 


102     HISTORY   AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 


Marcosson,  "Fight  for  the  Open  Shop,"  World^s  Work.      Vol.   ii: 

6955-^5- 

The  National  Civic  Federation  Review,  October,  1905.     "Combinations 
of  Labor  and  Capital." 

Stecker,    "National   Founders'   Association,"   Quarterly  Jourtml  of 
Economics,  February,  1916.     Vol.  30. 

Barnett,  "Systems  of  Collective  Bargaining,"  ibid.     Vol.  26:  425. 

Wright,  "The  Contest  in  Congress  between  Organized  Labor  and 
Organized  Business,"  ibid.     Vol.  29:  235. 


I 


CHAPTER  VI 

GOVERNMENT  AND  POLICIES  OF  LABOR  ORGANIZATIONS 

Classification  of  Labor  Organizations.  Organizations  of  wage 
earners  may  be  technically  classified  as  labor  unions,  trade 
unions,  and  industrial  unions.  The  significance  of  the  labor 
union  is  chiefly  historical.  Into  the  labor  union  all  classes  of 
wage  earners  were  gathered;  and  employers  and  professional 
men  were  often  admitted.  The  labor  union  was  idealistic  or 
humanitarian  in  its  aims.  The  strike  and  the  boycott  were 
rarely  used;  but  reliance  was  placed  upon  land  reform,  educa- 
tion, cooperation,  the  direction  of  public  opinion,  and  politi- 
cal activity.  The  leaders  of  the  labor  union  were  wont  to 
make  much  of  the  point  that  the  interests  of  labor  and  capital 
were  fundamentally  harmonious;  and  that  betterment  came 
through  the  united  efforts  of  all  classes.  The  labor  congresses 
and  associations  of  the  forties  are  excellent  examples  of  this 
type  of  labor  organization.  The  Knights  of  Labor  might 
also  be  classified  as  a  labor  union.  The  existence  of  this  form 
of  organization  indicates  a  lack  of  class  consciousness  and  an 
absence  of  any  clear  idea  of  the  solidarity  of  the  working  class 
or  of  any  section  of  it.  The  trade  union  is  an  organization 
among  the  wage  earners  of  a  given  trade.  The  trade  union 
demands  the  system  of  collective  bargaining,  and  has  a 
concept  of  a  ''fair  wage."  It  is  essentially  a  business  organ- 
ization formed  to  make  the  best  possible  bargain  with  em- 
ployers for  the  commodity  —  labor  power  —  which  it  offers 
for  sale.  Each  group  or  trade  bargains  independently  of  other 
groups  or  trades.  The  trade  union  stands  for  group  action 
rather  than  for  united  action  on  the  part  of  all  wage  earners 

103 


i!     ( 
i 


i\ 


104   HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

irrespective  of  occupational  lines.  It  accepts  the  strike  and 
the  boycott  as  valuable  weapons;  and  it  usually  considers 
political  activity  to  be  of  doubtful  value.  The  United  Broth- 
erhood of  Carpenters  and  Joiners  and  the  International  Typo- 
graphical Union  are  examples  of  trade  unions. 

The  most  recent  type  of  labor  organization  is  the  industrial 
union.    It  cuts  across  craft  lines  and  aims  to  unite  all  the 
workers  in  one  industry  into  a  coherent  and  centrally  con- 
trolled   organization.       In    this   kind    of   organization,    the 
friction  due  to  overlapping  craft  jurisdictions  is  in  a  large 
measure  obviated.    When  an  industrial  union  orders  a  strike 
all  the  workers  in  a  given  establishment  strike  at  once  and 
share  in  the  expenses  and  in  the  benefits.    The  United  Mine 
Workers'  Union  and   the  International  Union  of  Brewery 
Workers  are  examples  of  industrial  unions.    These  organiza- 
tions wish  to  unite  all  the  crafts  working  in  the  mines  or  for 
a  brewing  company  into  one  organization.     The  skilled  and 
the  unskilled  are  knit  together.    The  advocates  of  industrial 
unionism  urge  that  it  is  more  important  to  unite  all  in  a  given 
industrial  group  than  to  unite  all  in  a  given  trade  but  scat- 
tered far  and  wide  throughout  the  nation.     The  most  radical 
form  of  industrial  unionism,  such  as  the  Industrial  Workers  of 
the  World  represents,  declares  that  labor  and  capital  have  no 
interests  in  common.    The  advocates  of  industrial  unionism 
assert  that  concentration  and  integration  of  industry  have 
made  trade  or  craft  unionism  obsolete. 

The  older  form  of  ''labor  unions"  was  too  broad  in  its 
scope.  It  laid  too  much  stress  upon  the  humanitarian  aspect 
of  labor  problems;  it  was  too  altruistic  and  visionary,  and  not 
sufficiently  practical.  A  successful  and  permanent  labor 
movement  must  be  nourished  on  the  immediate,  the  practical, 
and  the  tangible,  —  that  is,  on  the  hope  of  higher  wages, 
shorter  working  days,  better  shop  conditions,  and  better 
homes,  rather  than  upon  high  ideals  of  the  brotherhood  of 


GOVERNMENT  AND  POLICIES 


105 


man  and  the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest  number.  In  the 
long  run,  altruism,  without  a  generous  admixture  of  egoism, 
does  not  provide  a  practical  foundation  for  a  labor  organiza- 
tion or  for  an  employees'  association.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  growth  in  the  number  of  the  unskilled  and  the  increased 
use  of  subdivision  of  labor  has  forced  the  trade  unionists  in 
some  industries  to  unite  with  the  unskilled  and  to  aid  the 
unskilled  in  fighting  his  battles.  The  skilled  man  fears  the 
encroachment  of  the  cheap  and  unorganized  workers.  He 
believes  in  organization  and  higher  wages  for  the  unskilled 
because  he  in  turn  will  be  benefited.  Even  the  trade  union 
is  becoming  the  union  of  the  unskilled  and  semi-skilled  as 
well  as  of  the  skilled.  The  egoism  of  the  skilled  man  is 
assuming  the  garb  of  altruism;  aid  rendered  the  unskilled  in 
the  end  often  benefits  the  skilled. 

Labor  organizations  may  also  be  classified  according  to 
functions.  The  late  Professor  Hoxie  distinguished  three 
main  forms:  —  business,  uplift  and  revolutionary  unionism.^ 
The  trade  unions  affiliated  in  the  American  Federation  of 
Labor  are  business  unions.  The  members  of  business  unions 
are  *' trade-conscious";  they  emphasize  wage  bargaining  and 
immediate  results.  The  business  unionist  is  conservative. 
Uplift  unionism  is  an  idealistic  type  of  organization;  it  is 
likely  to  stress  mutual  insurance  and  cooperation.  The 
Knights  of  Labor  was  theoretically  of  this  type.  Revolu- 
tionary unionism  represents  an  extreme  type  of  class-conscious 
organization.  The  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World  is  a  revo- 
lutionary union.  A  foiurth  t3^e  may  be  termed  predatory 
unionism.  It  is  business  unionism  gone  wrong.  The  pred- 
atory union  is  corrupt  and  boss-ridden;  in  some  forms  it  may 
resort  to  terrorism  as  did  the  Bridge  and  Structural  Iron 
Workers. 

Organized  labor  is  a  social  phenomenon;  it  is  a  form  of  in- 

^  Journal  of  Political  Economy.     Vol.  22,  pp.  212  ff. 


'I 


io6     HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

stitution.  The  form,  methods,  ideals,  and  immediate  pur- 
poses of  labor  organizations  may  be  studied  in  the  same 
manner  as  political  parties  or  fraternal  organizations  may  be 
analyzed.  A  union  consciously  or  unconsciously  adopts  a 
certain  peculiar  form  or  structure  in  order  to  aid  it  in  ac- 
complishing certain  aims.  No  institution  would  come  into 
being  were  it  not  intended,  deliberately  or  fortuitously,  to 
affect  certain  changes  in  the  course  of  human  affairs.  And 
no  form  of  organized  labor  would  exist  unless  wageworkers 
hoped  to  obtain  through  its  agency  some  improvement  in 
living  and  working  conditions.  These  statements  are  cer- 
tainly little  short  of  axiomatic.  In  short,  both  the  structure 
and  functions  of  a  labor  organization  or  of  any  other  institu- 
tion are  the  visible  and  tangible  results  of  underlying  forces 
and  causes  which  spring  out  of  the  physical  and  social  environ- 
ment. The  analysis  of  a  labor  organization  is  a  study  in 
social  mechanics.  To  classify  labor  organizations  according 
to  structure  or  according  to  functions  may  be  desirable;  but 
the  classifier  should  remember  that  he  is  only  dealing  with 
outward  manifestations  and  results,  not  with  causes  and 
fundamental  motives. 

The  union  — a  social  structure  or  organization  —  is  a 
grouping  of  wageworkers  for  the  purpose  of  accomplishing 
certain  results.  The  union  is  a  tool;  a  means  to  an  end. 
Writers  upon  the  subject  of  labor  and  labor  organizations 
have  not  held  that  the  form  of  organization  was  fundamental. 
Nor  have  they  held  that  all  labor  organizations  were  alike 
or  even  similar  in  ideals  and  plans.  Indeed,  quite  the  con- 
trary is  true.  Students  of  government  realize  that  the 
term  — "a  democratic  government,."  for  example  — must 
be  translated  differently  in  Haiti  than  in  the  United  States. 
Nevertheless,  classification  of  governments  into  republics, 
constitutional  monarchies,  and  so  on,  is  of  value  to  students 
of  political  science.     It  is  doubtless  true  in  a  broad  way  that 


GOVERNMENT  AND   POLICIES 


107 


democratic  forms  of  government  are  the  products  of  the 
change  known  as  the  industrial  revolution.  But  the  existence 
of  danger  from  outside  foes  may  retard  progress  toward  a 
democracy,  as  witness  Germany.  Or  tradition  may  keep 
the  shell  of  a  government  for  a  long  time  after  its  reality  has 
been  sloughed  off,  as  is  the  case  in  England.  In  like  manner, 
opposition  from  without,  tradition,  or  the  pressure  of  leaders, 
may  greatly  modify  the  course  taken  in  evolving  the  structure 
and  functions  of  a  libor  organization. 

In  the  great  majority  of  cases,  a  given  structure  or  form  of 
a  government  or  of  a  labor  organization  more  truly  represents 
a  past  than  a  present  balance  of  forces;  but  it  is  also  a  factor 
in  determining  the  present-time  attitude  of  those  adhering  to 
the  government  or  labor  organization  in  question.  After  an 
institution  has  been  developed  and  has  crystallized  into  certain 
forms,  this  somewhat  inelastic  structure  usually  serves  as  a 
modifying  and  conserving  force  or  influence.  Group  and 
institutional  inertia  must  be  reckoned  with  in  any  study  of 
social  and  institutional  forms.  American  legal  and  consti- 
tutional forms  have  greatly  modified  the  course  of  events  in 
American  national  life.  The  existence  of  social  customs 
and  habits  also  tends  to  prevent  rapid  changes  in  ideals. 
The  psychology  of  the  American  has  undoubtedly  lagged 
behind  the  unusually  rapid  changes  which  have  taken  place 
in  industry  during  recent  generations.  The  American  work- 
ingman  has  been  too  individualistic  to  cope  effectively  with 
the  great  and  steadily  growing  combinations  of  capital; 
to  many  of  them  yet  clings  the  restless  and  impatient  vital- 
ity and  self-assurance  of  the  frontier.  The  effect  of  social  in- 
ertia is  also  plainly  visible  in  the  ideals,  the  concepts  and  the 
psychology  of  the  unionist.  The  psychology  of  the  average 
unionist  is  still  measurably  affected  and  modified  by  ideals 
and  concepts  crystallized  during  the  outgrown  era  of  small- 
scale,  non-integrated  industry.     Again,  overworked  and  un- 


io8    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

dertrained  workers  will  have  a  narrower  vision  than  more 
efficient  and  better  trained  workers.  A  union  composed  of 
the  former  will  be  more  erratic  and  less  calculating  than  one 
composed  of  the  latter  type  of  unionists,      s 

Both  the  specific  structural  and  the  specific  functional 
forms  of  labor  organizations  are  very  diverse.     No  two  types 
of  workers  have  been  subjected  to  exactly  the  same  economic 
pressure,  the  relations  between  workers  and  their  employers 
vary  greatly  in  different  lines  of  business,  the  possibiUty  or 
displacement  by  other  workers  or  by  machines  likewise  varies 
from  trade  to  trade  and  from  occupation  to  occupation,  and 
price  levels  and  standards  of  living  are  subject  to  rapid  modi- 
fications.   This  complex  situation  is  further  complicated  by 
the  institutional  lag  exhibited  by  organizations  of  labor.    And 
the  influence,  conservative  or  radical,  of  the  capable  and 
aggressive  leader,  must  not  be  neglected.     Samuel  Gompers, 
for  example,  is  a  factor  which  cannot  safely  be  overlooked 
in  any  careful  consideration  of  the  evolution  of  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor.     The  autocratic  and  imperious  leader 
has  played  an  important  role  in  labor  organizations  as  well 
as  in  the  affairs  of  nations.     The  appeal  to  the  passions  and 
emotions  figures  in  union  matters  as  well  as  in  party  politics. 
The  trade  union  is  the  fundamental  and  most  natural 
grouping  of  workers  for  betterment.     In  the  trade  union  are 
united  workers  engaged  in  similar  work  and  interested  in 
similar  matters.     Carpenters  have  more  in   common  with 
other  carpenters  than  with  boilermakers  or  molders.     But 
as  the  machine  process  undermines  trade  after  trade  and 
tends  to  reduce  all  workers  to  a  common  denominator,  trade 
or  craft  becomes  of  less  and  less  importance.    And  as  car- 
penters, molders  and  boilermakers  become  united  as  em- 
ployees of  the  same  corporation,  trade  lines  yield  to  the  unity 
of  interests  of  employees  of  one  big  business  organization. 
As  a  consequence,  organization  by  industry  begins  to  replace 


ill 


GOVERNMENT  AND   POLICIES 


109 


organization  by  trade.  The  structure  changes  and  the 
specific  function  of  the  organization  may  undergo  modification; 
but  the  fundamental  purposes  of  organization  do  not  undergo 
great  transformations. 

It  may  therefore  safely  be  asserted  that  the  prime  factors 
in  a  study  of  labor  organizations,  are  not:  Is  the  union  a 
trade  or  an  industrial  union?  Or,  is  its  purpose  business  or 
revolutionary?  The  important  questions  are:  Why  has  it 
adopted  the  ideals,  form  and  methods  which  are  now  asso- 
ciated with  the  organization?  And,  what  are  the  internal 
and  external,  present  and  past,  forces  which  determine  its 
path  today?  Any  classification  whether  structural  or  func- 
tional is  only  of  value  in  making  clear  the  factors  in  the  labor 
problem.  A  study  of  social  forces  is  essential  in  any  in- 
vestigation of  labor  organizations. 

Government  and  Structure.  The  methods  and  governmental 
policies  of  the  trade  unions  have  been  developed  to  meet  the 
exigencies  of  an  opportunist  program.  Immediate  results, 
results  here  and  now,  and  results  which  benefit  the  little  group 
directly  concerned,  are  desired  rather  than  indefinite,  post- 
poned, and  generally-participated-in  benefits.  The  average 
trade  unionist^may  have  high  ideals  as  to  the  betterment  of 
the  wage-earning  class  as  a  unit;,  but  the  immediate  bread- 
and-butter  logic  turns  the  balance  when  a  concrete  situation 
which  demands  immediate  action  confronts  him.  The  suc- 
cessful labor  leader  is  the  exponent  of  ''business  unionism"; 
he  is  the  man  who  gets  higher  wages,  a  shorter  working  day, 
and  the  like  for  his  group  of  followers  even  though  the  price 
of  success  must  be  paid  by  other  unionists  as  consumers  of 
the  products  made  by  the  members  of  the  first  group.  A  new 
unionism  which  actually  as  well  as  theoretically  emphasizes 
the  solidarity  of  labor  and  which  looks  to  the  more  distant 
as  well  as  to  the  immediate  effects  of  a  policy,  may  be  coming 
above  the  horizon;  but  the  structure  of  the  unions  of  today 


W\ 


I 


i!    \ 


,10   HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

and  the  way  in  which  they  funcUon  are  the  products  of  the 
efforts  of  selfish  groups  that  do  not  look  far  into  the  future 
The  predominant  form  of  labor  organuation  is  stiU  trade  or 
craft  unionism;  but,  in  the  future,  industrial  unionism  must 

be  reckoned  with.  ./„,!,<. 

PoUtical  government  in  America  has  progressed  from  the 
local  and  decentralized  control  of  colonial  times  through  a 
period  of  control  by  a  weak  confederation,  to  a  form  of  federal 
government  in  which  the  central  government  is  growing  more 
powerful  absolutely  and  relatively.    Originally  the  federal 
government  was  created  by  the  sUtes,  but  today  the  majonty 
of  the  states  of  the  Union  owe  their  existence  to  direct  federal 
action.    A  striking  and  significant  parallel  can  be  drawn 
between  the  evolution  of  govermnent  in  the  American  nation 
and  the  evolution  of  control  in  the  strong  American  labor 
organizations  of  today.    In  the  government  of  labor  organi- 
zations, the  original  governmental  unit  was  the  autonomous 
local  union  or  society.    The  locals  were  and  are  extremely 
democratic;  the  town  meeting  form  of  government  works  well 
since  all  members  of  the  locals  are  approximately  on  a  plane 
of  equaUty  in  regard  to  education,  income,  and  social  position^ 
The  regular  meetings  of  the  locals  are  held  fiequently,  and 
special  meetings  may  readily  be  called  if  any  question  of 
unusual  importance  arises.    The  officers  are,  as  a  rule,  se- 
lected for  short  terms,  and  rotation  in  office  is  not  uncommon. 
The  only  office  in  connection  with  a  local  union  which  requires 
special  skiU  is  that  of  the  business  agent  or  the  walking  dele- 
gate; and  this  office  exists  in  only  a  comparatively  small 
number  of  locals.     This  officer  is  most  frequently  found  m  the 
building  trades.    The  business  agent  is  the  representative  of 
the  union  in  deaUng  with  employers  in  regard  to  wages,  the 
redress  of  grievances,  and  the  enforcement  of  union  rules. 

The  history  of  the  evolution  of  governmental  power  m 
trade  unions  has  been  that  of  the  growth  of  a  national  orgam- 


GOVERNMENT  AND   POLICIES 


III 


) 


zation  representing  centralized  power.  Originally  the  locals 
were  knit  together  into  loose  federations.  Annual  conventions 
were  held  to  which  delegates  from  the  federated  locals  were 
sent.  These  conventions  chose  the  national  officers  to  serve 
for  the  ensuing  year.  At  first  the  delegate  convention  was 
chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  discussion  and  to  bring  about  una- 
nimity of  action  among  the  workers  in  a  given  trade.  In  the 
aarly  stages  of  growth,  the  national  officers  were  given  little 
power;  and  the  funds  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  national 
bodies  were  small  in  amount.  The  locals  were  extremely 
jealous  of  their  prerogatives.  But  out  of  these  loose  federa- 
tions of  locals,  proud  of  their  autonomy,  have  gradually 
emerged  powerful  national  bodies  with  considerable  incomes 
at  their  disposal;  and  their  strength  is  still  increasing.  The 
delegate  convention  is  no  longer  an  impotent  advisory  body; 
it  has  become  in  many  national  organizations  a  true  legis- 
lative body.  In  turn,  the  national  bodies  have  become 
propagandists  and  have  instituted  new  locals  under  their 
jurisdiction,  and  the  new  locals  are  more  readily  controlled 
than  were  the  older  ones.  However,  the  increase  in  the 
power  and  dignity  of  the  national  organizations  has  not 
come  without  encountering  friction  and  determined  opposi- 
tion. The  states'  rights  doctrine,  so  famous  in  American 
history,  has  its  counterpart  in  the  evolution  of  trade-union 
government. 

But  the  growing  intricacy  of  industrial  affairs,  the  enlarge- 
ment of  the  competitive  area,  the  increasing  mobility  of 
labor,  a  recognition  of  the  peculiar  efficiency  of  united  and 
simultaneous  action  on  the  part  of  large  numbers,  the  gradual 
centralization  of  business  management,  and  the  increasing 
importance  to  labor  interests  of  financial  resources,  have 
forced  the  reluctant  locals  to  recognize  the  necessity  of  sub- 
ordination to  a  central  governmental  body.  This  movement 
toward  unification  has  gone  further  in  some  unions  than  in 


V  1 


i  >! 


i 


f ! 


J 


r 


1 1 2    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

others;  and  consequently  there  is  only  a  small  measure  of 
uniformity  as  to  the  details  of  union  structure.  Practically 
all  national  labor  organizations  at  the  present  time  exercise 
legislative,  executive,  and  judicial  functions  in  regard  to  many 
matters  which  affect  the  subordinate  locals.  Usually,  how- 
ever, important  matters  are  subject  to  a  referendum  to  the 
entire  membership  or  to  the  portion  of  the  membership 
directly  concerned  with  the  proposed  legislation  or  policy. 
The  annual  convention  composed  of  delegates  from  locals 
is  the  legislature  or  congress  of  the  national  body;  the  presi- 
dent and  an  executive  council  exercise  executive  powers;  and 
the  judicial  function  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  president 
or  some  other  executive  officer,  usually  with  the  right  of  ap- 
peal to  the  council  or  to  the  annual  convention  in  case  a 
local  or  some  group  of  members  is  dissatisfied  with  the  settle- 
ment of  some  disputed  question  or  with  the  interpretation  of 
some  rule  or  regulation.  The  militant  activities  in  connec- 
tion with  strikes,  boycotts,  and  the  like,  of  the  larger  and 
more  responsible  unions  at  least,  are  directed  by  the  national 

officers. 

The  differentiation  in  the  structure  and  government  of 
unions  is  the  result  of  a  multitude  of  interacting  and  often 
conflicting  forces,  —  such  as  the  progress  toward  integration 
in  industry,  opposition  on  the  part  of  employers,  the  menace 
of  child,  woman,  and  immigrant  labor,  the  payment  of  union 
benefits,  etc.  A  brief  study  of  nine  national  unions  is  pre- 
sented in  order  to  illustrate  in  a  concrete  manner  the  course  of 
progress  toward  centralization  in  the  government  of  labor 
organizations;  and  it  is  also  presented  because  by  this  method 
the  reasons  for  the  appearance  of  certain  peculiarities  in  the 
structure  and  government  of  such  bodies  may  be  partially 

disclosed. 

The  International  Typographical  Union  affords  a  fairly 
clear  picture  of  progress  from  a  decentralized  to  a  strongly 


GOVERNMENT  AND  POLICIES 


"3 


centralized  form  of  government.  The  earliest  form  of  union 
organization  among  the  printers  was  purely  local.  The 
"chapel"  was  an  organization  of  printers  working  in  one  shop 
or  office.  The  chapel  assemblies  were  mass  meetings.  In 
the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  associations  began 
to  be  formed  among  the  printers  working  in  a  city.  These 
were  organized  at  first  for  beneficiary  purposes,  and  later  in 
order  to  establish  and  maintain  a  uniform  wage  scale  and 
similar  working  conditions  throughout  an  entire  city.  The 
chapels  were  generally  subordinated  to  these  local  unions. 
The  ultimate  control  of  the  local  unibns  was  vested  in  a 
monthly  meeting  to  which  all  members  are  admitted.  In 
1 85 1  a  permanent  national  organization  was  formed.  The 
central  body  was  at  that  time  given  little  authority  over 
the  subordinate  bodies.  The  government  was  decentralized; 
it  was  that  of  a  confederation.  The  members  of  the  national 
body  were  representatives  elected  by  the  locals.  Up  to  1869 
each  local  was  equally  represented  irrespective  of  the  number 
belonging  to  it.  After  1869  numerical  representation  was 
adopted  in  the  face  of  the  opposition  of  the  small  locals. 
The  early  officers  had  few  executive  duties  to  perform,  and 
were  chosen  at  the  annual  convention  which  was  composed 
of  the  delegates  from  the  locals.  They  were  elected  for  a 
term  of  one  year  and  were  rarely  reelected.  In  thirty-five 
years  the  national  body  had  twenty-eight  presidents.  After 
1884  the  power  of  the  central  administrative  organization  was 
strengthened.  Since  1889  all  proposed  amendments  to  the 
constitution  and  all  laws  involving  increased  taxation  must 
be  submitted  to  a  referendum  vote  of  all  the  members  of  the 
local  unions.  In  1896  all  members  of  the  locals  were  made 
eligible  to  hold  office  in  the  national  organization;  and  the 
power  of  election  was  taken  from  the  convention  and  given 
to  the  membership  at  large.  The  establishment  of  the  print- 
ers' home,  the  provisions  for  death  and  strike  benefits,  and 


'Vi 


M 


;f 


■  ♦ 


Mm 


114    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

the  power  to  supervise  collective  bargaining  have  greatly 
increased  the  dignity  and  authority  of  the  central  government 
of  the  Typographical  Union.  Within  three-score  years,  the 
national  organization  of  this  group  of  skilled  workers  has 
evolved  into  a  powerful  body  exercising  a  large  measure  of 
authority  over  the  locals  and  capable  of  conducting  success- 
fully a  bitterly  contested  strike.  No  strike  is  "legal"  unless 
sanctioned  by  the  officers  of  the  national  body.^ 

In  the  Cigar  Makers'  International  Union,  the  process  of 
nationalizing  functions  has  proceeded  steadily;  year  after 
year  the  national  body  has  taken  under  its  control  matters 
which  had  hitherto  been  left  to  the  action  of  the  local  bodies. 
Supervisory  power  is  centralized  in  the  hands  of  the  President. 
The  inauguration  of  an  extensive  system  of  benefits  for  mem- 
bers sick,  disabled,  or  out  of  work  was  one  of  the  potent 
means  of  enabling  the  national  body  to  strengthen  its  grip 
upon  recalcitrant  locals.  The  funds  are  not  placed  in  the 
treasury  of  the  International,  but  are  scattered  among  the 
several  locals.  The  accounts  of  each  local  are  carefully  super- 
vised by  the  "financier"  of  the  organization.  "The  finan- 
cier goes  from  local  to  local,  generally  arriving  unexpectedly 
and  without  warning.  The  accounts  of  the  financial  secre- 
tary are  subject  to  a  vigorous  examination,  and  the  system  of 
administering  the  benefits  carefully  reviewed."  The  use  of 
the  union  label  has  also  been  a  factor  in  causing  this  impor- 
tant modification  of  structure.  The  first  fine  authorized  by 
the  constitution  of  the  Cigar  Makers'  Union  was  for  non- 
enforcement  of  the  rules  governing  the  use  of  the  label.  Legis- 
lation by  convention  has  been  displaced  by  direct  legislation 
through  the  initiative  and  referendum.  This  democratic 
method  of  legislating  is  less  expensive  than  the  convention 

1  Free  use  has  been  made  of  the  chapter  on  "The  Government  of  the  Typo- 
graphical Union,"  in  Hollander  and  Bamett's  Stttdies  in  American  Trade 
Unionism. 


GOVERNMENT  AND   POLICIES 


115 


system.     The  election  of  officers  by  popular  vote,  however, 
involves  considerable  expense.^ 

In  order  to  study  the  structure  of  government  required  to 
carry  out  the  policies  of  a  national  union  containing  skilled  and 
unskilled  men  of  a  variety  of  nationahties,  religious  beliefs 
and  political  affiliations,  and  bargaining  with  powerful  groups 
of  employers,  perhaps  no  better  example  can  be  chosen  than 
the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America.     This  organization  is 
composed  of  national,  district,  sub-district,  and  local  units. 
These  units  resemble  the  political  divisions,  —  nation,  state, 
county,  and  township,  municipality  or  ward.     All  questions 
of  importance  are  ultimately  referred  to  the  locals.     The  col- 
lective membership  nominates  and  elects  by  a  direct  vote 
the  three  leading  national  officers,  —  the  president,  the  vice- 
president,    and    the    secretary-treasurer.     Members    of    the 
executive  board  are  chosen  indirectly  by  the  membership. 
The  delegates  to  the  national  convention  are  chosen  and 
instructed  by  the  locals.    The  national  convention  holds  an 
annual  meeting.     This  convention  of  delegates  from  the  locals 
has  power  to  change  the  constitution  or  to  inaugurate  new 
policies.     While  the  convention  is  not  in  session  final  author- 
ity is  practically  centered  in  the  president.     An  amendment 
adopted  in  191 1  provides  that  strikes  cannot  be  ordered  or 
called  off  by  the  district,  or  international  officers,  without  a 
favorable  referendum  vote  of  miners  concerned.    ''  The  United 
Mine  Workers  of  America  is  one  of  the  most  democratic 
organizations  in  the  world,  but  has  the  possibility  of  becom- 
ing all  at  once  the  most  autocratic. "    This  paradoxical  situ- 
ation grows  out  of  the  necessity  of  preparation  for  strikes. 
To  successfully  carry  on  a  war  or  a  strike,  the  executive  must 
be  given  extraordinary  power.     Government  by  discussion  or 
by  referendum  weakens  a  nation  facing  a  military  crisis,  or  a 
labor  union  engaged  in  a  bitter  industrial  conflict.    Like  the 

»  Hollander  and  Bamett,  Studies  in  American  Trade  Unionism.    Chapter  3. 


h^ 


J  -^ 


Ii6    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

British  constitution,  the  constitutional  provisions  governing 
the  Mine  Workers  have  been  developed  step  by  step.  They 
are  adapted  to  the  peculiar  conditions  of  the  mining  industry. 
The  finances  of  the  national  body  are  raised  by  a  per  capita 
tax  upon  the  members  of  the  locals.  Additional  assessments 
may  be  levied  by  the  executive  committee.  In  1902,  the 
year  in  which  the  famous  anthracite  coal  strike  occurred,  the 
total  income  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  was  $3,010,877.32. 
The  annual  joint  conference  between  the  representatives  of 
this  union  and  those  of  the  mine  operators,  for  the  purpose  of 
bargaining  as  to  the  wage  contract  for  the  ensuing  year,  is 
perhaps  the  greatest  labor  market  in  the  world.  "Trade 
unionism  under  the  stimulus  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  of 
America  has  come  to  be  a  business  operation  on  a  large  scale. "  ^ 
The  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Engineers  is  regarded  as 
one  of  the  most  conservative  of  American  labor  organizations. 
It  is,  of  course,  composed  of  highly  skilled  and  relatively  well 
paid  wage  earners  employed  by  quasi-public  corporations. 
The  safety  of  many  persons  and  of  much  property  depends 
upon  the  skill  and  efficiency  of  the  locomotive  engineer. 
These  conditions  lead  the  engineers,  the  railway  managers, 
and  the  general  public  to  demand  a  long  period  of  apprentice- 
ship. The  locomotive  engineers  do  not  ask  for  closed  shop 
agreements,  and  the  railways  have  adopted  definite  and 
standardized  scales  of  wages.  The  engineers  emphasize  the 
importance  of  collective  bargaining;  and  they  stand  ready  to 
discipline  members  who  violate  the  wage  contract.  Until  re- 
cently arbitration  in  labor  disputes  was  favored.  Mr.  P.  M. 
Arthur,  for  many  years  the  head  of  the  organization,  voiced 
the  sentiment  of  this  body  of  conservative  wage  earners  as 
follows:     *' Argument  .  .  .  rather    than     strikes,     were     at 

^Wame,  "The  Miners'  Union:  Its  Business  Management,"  Annals  of  the 
American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science.  Vol.  25.  Reprinted  in 
Commons,  Trade  Unionism  and  Labor  Problems. 


GOVERNMENT  AND  POLICIES 


117 


first,  always  have  been,  and  are  now  the  means  on  which  the 
brotherhood  has  rehed  to  maintain  the  justice  of  its  requests 
at  the  hands  of  the  railway  company."  The  locomotive 
engineers  engaged  in  an  occupation  in  which  the  use  of  the 
"green  hand"  or  the  unskilled  man  would  lead  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  valuable  property  and  to  great  loss  of  life  and  in  which 
the  cessation  of  operation  is  particularly  disastrous  to  the 
business  interests  and  to  the  general  welfare  of  the  community, 
occupy  a  pecuKarly  strategic  position.  They  are  efifectively 
shielded  from  many  of  the  economic  dangers  which  confront 
wage  earners  in  other  industries.  For  example,  the  menace 
of  the  unskilled,  of  the  immigrant,  of  child  labor,  or  of  dis- 
placement by  machinery^  is  practically  unknown  to  the  loco- 
motive engineer.  The  Brotherhood  has  never  affiliated  with 
the  American  Federation  of  Labor.  The  railway  brother- 
hoods represent  the  aristocracy  of  the  labor  world,  and  their 
members  are  little  troubled  by  the  trials  and  difficulties  of 
other  classes  of  wage  earners.  Union  trainmen,  for  example, 
do  not  strike  to  aid  striking  machinists  employed  by  the 
railway. 

Professional  men  and  the  general  public  frequently  come 
closely  in  touch  with  the  building  trades.  It  has  been  said 
that  public  opinion  as  to  labor  organizations  is  formed  by 
experience  with  the  building  trades.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
these  trades  constitute  rather  exceptional  forms  of  trade 
unionism.  The  building  trades  are  skilled  trades,  performing 
work  which  must  be  done  in  a  particular  place.  A  building 
cannot  be  built.  —  bricks  laid,  wood  and  iron  strips  placed  in 
position,  plastering  spread,  and  painting  done  —  in  New 
York  for  a  building  to  be  used  in  Chicago.  The  finished 
product  cannot  be  transported  from  one  city  to  another.  This 
fact  localizes,  in  a  large  measure,  the  interests  of  the  members 
of  a  building  trade.  The  trades  keep  their  trade  autonomy, 
but  since  many  trades  are  engaged  upon  one  building,  their 


I  s  i 


J 


1 18    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

interests  are  interrelated.  The  building  trades  in  a  given 
city  are  affiliated  together  in  a  Building  Trades'  Council. 
This  constitutes  a  sort  of  confederated  system  of  government. 
Their  common  interests  also  find  concrete  expression  in  the 
frequent  resort  to  the  sympathetic  strike.  Trade  agreements 
with  employers  usually  include  a  clause  permitting  the 
sympathetic  strike.  This  insistence  upon  the  sympathetic 
strike  marks  an  approach  toward  the  policies  of  industrial 
unionism.  The  use  of  the  sympathetic  strike  does  not,  how- 
ever, reach  beyond  the  building  trades. 

A  peculiar  feature  of  the  building  trades  is  the  great  amount 
of  authority  which  is  placed  in  the   hands  of  the  business 
agents.     They  are  autocrats,  and  have  the  power  to  order  a 
strike  when  they  consider  that  conditions  demand  a  cessation 
of  work.    The  reason  for  this  unique  situation  is  quite  clear. 
A  contract  for  the  erection  of  a  building  is  usually  given  to 
one  contractor  who  sub-lets  to  many  other  contractors.     As 
a  sub-contractor  may  work  upon  a  given  building  for  only  a 
few  days,  prompt  action  is  necessary  in  case  of  a  labor  dis- 
pute.    In  order  to  interest  the  general  contractor,  the  resort 
to  the  sympathetic  strike  which  ties  up  the  entire  job  is 
necessary.     "It  is  a  significant  fact  that  the  only  union  of 
the  building  trades  which  does  not  permit  the  sympathetic 
strike  is  that  of  the  bricklayers,  who  are  employed  by  the 
general  contractor,  while  the  unions  employed  by  the  sub- 
contractors hold  that  the  sympathetic  strike  is  necessary.''^ 
This  is  a  fine  illustration  of  the  manner  in  which  economic, 
conditions  and  selfish  interests  fashion  the  form  of  govern- 
ment and  the  policies  of  trade  unions.     The  building  trades 
insist  upon  rigid  apprenticeship  rules,  the  closed  shop  agree- 
ment, and  upon  the  sympathetic  strike.     Because  the  work 

»  Commons,  Trade  Unionism  and  Labor  Problems,  p.  67.  For  many  of  the 
facts  in  regard  to  the  building  trades,  the  writer  is  indebted  to  ProfessQl 
Commons. 


GOVERNMENT  .\ND   POLICIES 


119 


must  be  done  on  the  spot,  and  because  much  of  it  is  skilled 
work,  the  building  trades  occupy  a  strategic  position  and  have 
been  able  successfully  to  demand  high  wages  and  a  short 
working  day. 

The  trade  of  a  journeyman  barber  approximates  a  pro- 
fession; and  the  employee  comes  into  close  personal  touch 
with  his  employer.     The  International  Union  was  organized 
in   1887.     Employing  barbers  who  work  at   the   trade  are 
excluded  from  membership.     Each  local  determines  its  own 
rules  in  regard  to  wages,  hours,  and  prices.    As  the  journey- 
man usually  receives,  in  addition  to  a  fixed  wage,  a  percentage 
of  the  receipts  from  his  labor,  he  is  interested  in  the  prices 
charged  for  his  services.     The  union  of  employees,  rather 
than  the  employing  barbers,  fixes  prices.     When  wages  are 
increased,  prices  may  be  raised  and  the  increase  passed  on  to 
the  patrons.    In  Toledo,  some  years  ago,  when  wages  and 
prices  were  thus  raised  together,  the  journeymen  refused  to 
allow  any  union  shop  to  charge  less  than  the  regular  scale  of 
prices,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  some  employing  barbers 
were  willing  to  pay  the  union  wage  without  increasing  the 
price  of  a  shave.    Employing  barbers  are  not,  as  a  rule, 
antagonistic   to    the   union.     In  Jackson,  Michigan,  several 
years  ago,  the  local  disbanded.     Not  long  after  this  event, 
the  employing  barbers  urged  its  reorganization,  and  even 
offered  to  pay  a  man  to  act  as  an  organizer.     Union  barbers 
may  work  in  open  shops,  providing  hours,  wages,  and  prices 
are  as  good  or  better  than  in  the  union  shops. 

The  United  Brewery  Workers  are  organized  along  industrial 
rather  than  trade  lines.  Several  bitter  jurisdictional  strug- 
gles have  taken  place  between  the  brewery  workers  and 
various  craft  unions,  such  as  the  teamsters,  coopers,  engineers, 
and  painters.  The  1900  convention  of  the  American  Federa- 
tion finally  declared  that  it  seemed  best  to  allow  the  Brewery 
Workmen  to  have  jurisdiction  over  all  brewery  workers  irre- 


trA 


>  ! 


1 20    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

spective  of  their  particular  trade.  Nevertheless,  difficulties 
continued  to  arise,  and  in  1907  the  charter  of  the  Brewery 
Workers  was  revoked.  A  year  later,  however,  it  was  restored. 
The  brewery  workers  assert  that  the  control  of  all  workers 
employed  by  the  breweries  is  essential  to  the  strength  and 
permanence  of  their  order;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
various  trade  unions  are  anxious  to  increase  their  membership. 
The  difficulties  which  have  arisen  are  due  to  the  essential 
antagonism  between  the  industrial  and  the  trade  form  of 
organization.  The  two  forms  cannot  live  peaceably  side  by 
side,  except  in  the  face  of  a  common  danger. 

Perhaps  the  most  unique  American  labor  organization  is 
the  Western   Federation  of  Miners.    This  organization  is 
composed    chiefly    of   hardy,    reckless,    daring    frontiersmen 
working  in  the  metal  mines  west  of  the  Mississippi  River.   The 
foreigners  in  this  union  constitute  but  a  small  fraction  of  the 
total.     This  organization,  composed  of  men  naturally  of  the 
individualistic  t>pe,  has  developed  class-consciousness  to  a 
degree  rarely  surpassed.    These  reckless  miners  have  been 
confronted  by  a  quickly  developed  and  aggressive  class  of 
wealthy  mine  owners.     Control  of  the  mines  was  suddenly 
centralized;  individual  bargaining  became  futile;  the  separate 
and  disunited  units  of  labor  were  sweated.    The  miners  felt 
themselves  to  be  in  the  grip  of  a  new  and  strong  industrial 
system.    Suddenly  extreme  individualism  was  found  want- 
ing.   The  pendulum  suddenly  swung  to  the  other  extreme. 
Under  pressure,  the  miners  knit  together  into  an  industrial 
class-conscious  and  avowedly  sociaHstic  union;  and,  remem- 
ber, these  miners  were  individualistic  American  frontiersmen. 
The  Western  Federation  of  Miners  has  consistently  stood  for 
the  open  shop,  industrial  unionism,  the  method  of  the  general 
strike,  and  no  labor  contracts.     Its  constitution  forbids  all 
agreements  with  employers  except  in  regard  to  a  scale  of 
wages.     It  has  opposed  the  establishment  of  an  apprentice- 


GOVERNMENT  AND  POLICIES 


121 


ship  system,  restriction  of  output,  and  jurisdictional  quar- 
rels. This  union  preaches  the  doctrine  of  a  united  working 
class.  In  spite  of  its  crudeness  and  lawlessness,  it  is  tinctured 
with  a  high  type  of  idealism;  and  one  popular  writer  asserts 
that  it  has  contributed  to  the  history  of  western  mining  "its 
one  flash  of  social  thought,  its  one  deviation  from  a  purely 
materialistic  line  of  progress."  ^  In  19 11,  the  Western  Fed- 
eration affiliated  with  the  American  Federation  of  Labor. 
The  organization  became  less  radical  and  adopted  the  bar- 
gaining policies  of  the  United  Mine  Workers.  In  1916,  its 
name  was  changed  to  the  International  Union  of  Mill,  Mine 
and  Smelter  Workers. 

The  Amalgamated  Clothing  Workers  of  America  seceded 
from  the  United  Garment  Workers  in  1914.     This  organiza- 
tion is  not  affiliated  with  the  American  Federation  of  Labor. 
It  is  the  dominant  union  in  the  men's  and  boy's  clothing  in- 
dustry in  the  United  States.     Its  membership  in  1920  was 
approximately  200,000.    The  Amalgamated  Clothing  Workers 
accepts  the  principle  of  industrial  unionism;  the  preamble  of 
its   constitution   is   clearly   socialistic.     One   clause   in   the 
preamble  reads  as  follows:  —  "The  working  class  must  ac- 
cept the  principles  of  Industrial  Unionism  or  it  is  doomed  to 
impotence.'*    This  radical  union,  however,  has  trade  agree- 
ments with  the  most  important  clothing  manufacturers  of 
this  country.    The  organization  is  (1920)  planning  to  build 
an   "Amalgamated   Temple"   in   New   York   City   to   cost 
$600,000.     This  temple  is  intended  to  be  a  community  center 
for  the  army  of  workers  in  the  men's  clothing  industry  in 
New  York  City.    The  Amalgamated  emphasizes  the  import- 
ance of  education  for  the  worker;   and  it  opposes  restriction 
of  output  and  sabotage.    "We  stand  for  production." 

»  Hard,  "The  Western  Federation  of  Miners,"  The  Outlook.  Vol.  83:  133. 
See  also,  Rastall,  "The  Labor  History  of  the  Cripple  Creek  District."  Bul- 
letin of  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  1908.* 


» 


m 


122     HISTORY   AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

The  growing  strength  of  national  and  international  unions, 
requiring  for  successful  guidance  a  high  type  of  expert  leader- 
ship, had  brought  able  men  to  the  front  in  our  important 
labor  organizations.  Greater  permanence  in  office  and  larger 
salaries  have  accompanied  increased  responsibilities.  Samuel 
Gompers  has  been  president  of  the  American  Federation  of 
Labor  since  1884  with  the  exception  of  one  year  —  1894. 
Adolph  Strasser  was  president  of  the  Cigar  Makers'  Union 
from  1877  to  1 89 1,  at  which  time  he  refused  a  renomination. 
He  then  became  "  financier  "  of  the  organization.  T.  W.  Rowe 
was  at  the  head  of  the  American  Flint  Glass  Workers  from 
1903  to  1916.  P.  M.  Arthur  died  in  1903  after  serving  nearly 
thirty  years  as  the  chief  executive  of  the  Brotherhood  of 
Locomotive  Engineers.  It  is  generally  conceded  by  the 
friends  and  foes  of  organized  labor  that  the  officers  of  the 
national  bodies  are,  as  a  rule,  men  of  good  character  and 
unusual  ability.  As  has  been  frequently  noticed  in  the  case 
of  radical  and  "unsafe"  men  who  have  been  elected  to  posi- 
tions of  great  power  in  the  political  field,  the  exercise  of 
authority  and  the  weight  of  heavy  responsibilities  seem  to 
bring  conservatism  and  sobriety  of  action.  On  the  other 
hand,  labor  leaders  who  accept  a  salaried  office  and  no  longer 
work  at  their  trade  are  in  danger  of  getting  out  of  touch  with 
the  rank  and  file.  The  points  at  issue  no  longer  directly 
concern  the  salaried  official.  As  in  the  political  arena,  the 
greatest  official  inefficiency  is  usually  found  in  the  local 
organization.  The  ** labor  boss"  and  the  "labor  grafter" 
are  not  unknown;  but  wholesale  condemnation  of  labor 
officials  and  "walking  delegates"  is  not  justified.  When  the 
trade-union  organizations  of  today  with  their  centralized 
authority  and  complex  structure  are  compared  with  those  of 
two  or  three  decades  ago,  it  is  not  difficult  to  discern  that 
the  evolution  of  large-scale  and  integrated  industry  has  been 
roughly  paralleled  by  changes  In  the  field  of  organized  labor. 


GOVERNMENT  AND   POLICIES 


123 


Admission  to  Membership.  As  a  rule  any  competent  per- 
son actually  working  at  his  trade  or  occupation  may  gain 
entrance  to  the  labor  organization  in  his  particular  trade, 
or  industry.  The  American  Federation  of  Labor  and  certain 
national  unions  employ  salaried  and  volunteer  organizers. 
The  business  of  the  organizer  is  to  induce  non-union  men  to 
enter  the  organization.  Advertising  methods  are  sometimes 
employed.  The  machinists  in  a  Michigan  city  placed  an 
advertisement  in  their  local  paper  giving  reasons  why  the 
unorganized  machinists  of  that  city  should  join  the  union; 
and  an  invitation  was  extended  to  all  such  persons  to  attend 
the  next  meeting  of  the  union.  One  of  the  points  emphasized 
was  the  payment  by  the  union  of  strike  and  death  benefits. 
Coercive  measures  —  the  refusal  to  w^ork  with  non-union 
men  or  to  purchase  or  work  upon  goods  produced  by  them  — • 
frequently  cause  the  non-unionists  to  apply  for  union  mem- 
bership. A  union  which  aims  to  fix  minimum  wages  and  to 
shorten  the  working  day  uses  similar  tactics  to  those  employed 
by  a  great  capitalistic  trust.  It  tries  to  induce  all  workers  to 
come  into  the  union  fold;  but  failing  in  that  endeavor,  it 
attempts  to  force  the  recalcitrant  ones  out  of  the  trade  of 
occupation.  In  actual  practice,  certain  unions  exclude 
women,  Negroes,  or  aliens.  Occasionally,  unions  composed 
of  skilled  men  restrict  their  membership  by  charging  high 
initiation  fees.  A  few  years  ago  the  building  trades  of  Chicago 
charged  initiation  fees  equal  to  wages  for  one  hundred 
hours'  work.  The  local  union  may  impose  restrictions  in 
addition  to  those  required  by  the  national  body.  Candi- 
dates are  admitted  to  membership  by  the  votes  of  a  local. 

Disputes  Between  Unions.  Competition  between  rival 
unions  has  long  been  recognized  as  a  serious  menace  to  the 
progress  and  stability  of  organized  labor.  The  recurrence 
of  quarrels  "within  the  family"  has  been  considered  by  labor 
leaders  to  be  "the  one  dark  cloud"  on  the  union  horizon. 


'™ 


124    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

Recently,  however,  the  growing  opposition  from  without  has 
tended  to  push  the  jurisdictional  dispute  into  the  background. 
The  jurisdictional  dispute  in  the  field  of  organized  labor  is  a 
parallel  to  sectional  strife  in  the  American  political  field;  and 
as  internal  disputes  in  the  nation  are  overlooked  when  foreign 
nations  menace,  the  jurisdictional  quarrel  is  forgotten  when 
employers*  association  and  giant  corporations  prepare  to 
crush  labor  organizations.  In  the  face  of  opposition  unions 
are  less  likely  to  fritter  away  their  strength  fighting  each 
other.  Jurisdictional  disputes  are  of  two  general  types: 
(i)  Between  trades  over  the  demarcation  of  their  boundaries, 
and  (2)  industrial  versus  trade  organizations.  Demarcation 
disputes  may  be  subdivided  into  two  classes,  (a)  Two  well- 
established  unions  may  lay  claim  to  certain  forms  of  work 
lying  in  the  borderland  between  the  two  trades.  For  ex- 
ample, should  the  steam-fitter  or  the  carpenters  bore  the 
holes  in  wooden  floors  for  steam  pipes?  Should  boiler  makers 
or  structural  iron  workers  construct  iron  smokestacks?  In 
disputes  of  this  type,  the  group  selfishness  of  the  workers  is 
in  evidence.  Each  group  or  trade  strives  to  get  the  greatest 
amount  of  work  possible  without  much  regard  for  the  rights 
of  the  other  groups.  Employers  are  often  interested  in  the 
dispute  because  they  are  anxious  to  assign,  wherever  possible, 
the  work  over  which  there  is  a  controversy  to  the  union 
receiving  the  lowest  rate  of  wages,  (b)  As  specialization  in 
industry  developed,  trades  that  were  formerly  unified  began 
to  split  up  into  a  variety  of  allied  trades.  The  printers' 
trade  has  been  split  up  into  different  trades.  New  craftsmen 
have  appeared,  such  as  the  pressmen,  electrotypers,  and 
linotype  machine  operators.  Such  new  groups  struggle  for 
independent  recognition,  and  often  new  organizations  are 
differentiated  out  of  the  parent  group. 

Jurisdictional  disputes  between  the  trade  and  industrial 
unions  are  numerous  and  difficult  of  solution.    The  Brewery 


\4 


W 


GOVERNMENT  AND   POLICIES 


^25 


Workers  have  engaged  in  bitter  disputes  with  the  teamsters, 
the  engineers,  the  firemen,  and  the  coopers.  The  United 
Mine  Workers  have  also  had  serious  contentions  with  various 
trade  organizations.  The  teamsters,  for  example,  are  anxious 
to  make  their  organization  as  inclusive  and  powerful  as 
possible.  They  wish  to  draw  all  the  teamsters  employed  in 
the  brewing  industry  into  their  organization.  The  Brewery 
Workers  feel  that  the  loss  of  the  teamsters  would  seriously 
weaken  their  organization.  They  wish  to  be  able  to  control 
all  the  employees  of  the  brewing  companies.  The  separate 
organization  of  the  various  trades  involved  in  the  brewing 
business  would  leave  the  workers  who  are  technically  brewery 
workers  in  a  position  in  which  they  might  be  able  to  accom- 
plish but  little. 

The  dangers  connected  with  jurisdictional  disputes  are 
obvious;  but  the  remedy  is  not  so  apparent.  Mr.  Mitchell 
believed  that  some  form  of  federation  was  the  remedy.  But 
there  are  certain  obstacles  to  be  removed.  The  unions 
having  a  large  membership  desire  representation  according  to 
members;  the  small  unions  knowing  that  they  will  be  out- 
voted, on  that  basis  naturally  would  demand  representation 
by  organization.  The  situation  is  similar  to  that  which  con- 
fronted the  constitutional  convention  of  1787.  The  large 
states,  such  as  Massachusetts  and  Virginia,  wanted  repre- 
sentation in  Congress  according  to  population.  Connecticut 
and  Delaware,  of  course,  did  not  look  with  favor  upon  this 
proposition.  The  policy  of  the  American  Federation  of 
Labor  has  been  to  refuse  to  assume  the  authority  to  settle 
jurisdictional  disputes  between  affiliated  unions.  A  spokes- 
man for  the  industrial  union  declares  that  "the  only  radical 
solution  might  be  found  in  the  idea  of  a  general  labor  union, 
which,  however,  would  have  to  possess  a  much  closer  unity 
and  exercise  a  much  more  far-reaching  influence  upon  its 
members  than  does,  for  instance,  the  American  Federation  of 


« 


.■  t 

Hi 


11 


126    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

Labor."  *  The  disappearance  of  jurisdictional  disputes  can 
come  only  with  the  strengthening  of  the  power  of  a  national 
body  controlling  all  organizations  and  with  the  development 
of  a  feeling  of  solidarity  among  the  mass  of  wage  earners. 

The  Introduction  of  Machinery.     The  traditional  attitude 
of  the  organized  and  unorganized  wage  earners  toward  the 
introduction  of  machinery  has  been  one  of  hostility.    History 
records  many  instances  of  the  destruction  of  new  machines 
by  mobs  of  workmen  fearful  of  displacement  by  the  machine. 
The  wage  earners  have  often  faced  the  destruction  of  a  skilled 
trade  and  the  reduction  of  wages;    and  they  have  felt  that 
invariably  the  benefits  of  improved  machinery  accrue  to  the 
employer  and  to  the  consumer.    Various  unions  have  bitterly 
opposed  the  introduction  of  machinery;    and  have  refused 
to  allow  union  men  to  operate  machines.     The  plumbers, 
the  cigar  makers,  and  the  stone  cutters  adopted  that  policy. 
In  recent  years,  organized  labor  is  gradually  being  forced  to 
accept  the  view  that  opposition  to  the  introduction  of  ma- 
chinery is  in  the  long  run  futile.    A  new  attitude  toward 
improved    machinery    is   being   assumed.     The   unions   are 
demanding  that  only  union  men  operate  machines  and  that 
wages  shall  not  be  reduced  or  that  wages  shall  be  increased. 
,  In  this  manner,  organized  labor  aims  to  prevent  the  displace- 
ment of  union  men,  and  to  gain  a  share  of  the  benefits  derived 
from  the  use  of  improved  methods.     The  best  example  of 
this  policy  is  found  in  the  printing  trade.    The  national 
unions  in  the  glass  industry  and  in  the  iron  molding  trade 
have  attempted  to  follow  the  example  of  the  printers,  but 
their  success  has  been  less  marked. 

Before  1890  typesetting  was  a  handicraft  art  which  had 
undergone  few  changes  since  the  introduction  of  printing. 
During  the  decade  of  the  nineties,  machine  composition  rap- 

*  Schliiter,  The  Brewing  Industry  and  the  Brewery  Workers'  Movement  in 
America f  p.  232. 


GOVERNMENT   AND   POLICIES 


127 


idly  displaced  hand  typesetting.  The  invention  of  the  lino- 
type machine  revolutionized  the  typesetting  branch  of  the 
industry.  The  International  Typographical  Union  did  not 
oppose  the  introduction  of  the  linotype,  but  demanded 
jurisdiction  over  it.  At  the  annual  meeting  held  in  1888, 
when  only  about  100  linotype  machines  were  in  operation 
in  the  United  States  and  Canada,  resolutions  were  adopted 
recommending  'Hhat  subordinate  unions  .  .  .  take  speedy  ac- 
tion looking  to  their  recognition  and  regulation,  endeavoring 
everywhere  to  secure  their  operation  by  union  men  upon  a 
scale  of  wages  which  shall  secure  compensation  equal  to  that 
paid  hand  compositors."  ^  Although  the  members  of  some 
locals  were  reluctant  to  learn  to  operate  the  machines,  the 
national  union  has  steadfastly  adhered  to  the  policy  outlined 
when  the  linotype  first  appeared. 

The  success  of  this  policy  has  been  very  pronounced.  In 
1904,  94 1  per  cent  of  the  male  linotype  operators  were  mem- 
bers of  the  union.  Wages  have  been  maintained  and  raised 
in  spite  of  the  introduction  of  the  typesetting  machine;  the 
length  of  the  working  day  has  been  reduced,  and  the  amount 
of  unemployment  because  of  the  change  in  methods  was  di- 
minished. The  most  notable  gain  has  been  in  shortening  the 
length  of  the  working  day,  since  the  strain  upon  the  operator 
of  a  linotype  is  greater  than  upon  the  hand  compositor.  The 
union  has  shared  with  the  employers  and  public  in  the  benefits 
of  improved  methods.  If  organized  labor  in  other  industries 
can  as  successfully  carry  out  a  similar  policy  in  regard  to  the 
introduction  of  new  machines  and  methods,  the  vexed  prob- 
lems centering  around  the  introduction  of  machinery  and 
the  displacement  of  skilled  workers  would  seem  to  be 
approaching  solution. 

What  forces  enabled  the  typographical  union  to  maintain 
firm  control  over  the  trade  in  the  face  of  the  introduction 

^  Barnett,  "The  Introduction  of  the  Linotype,"  Yale  Review.    Vol  13;  268. 


'1 


r 


128    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

of  the  linotype?    Certain  labor  leaders  in  their  testimony 
before  the  Industrial  Commission  attributed  the  success  of 
this  policy  solely  to  the  strength  of  the  Typographical  Union. 
If  these  opinions  are  well  founded,  the  cigar  makers,  the  glass 
workers,  or  the  iron  molders  can  successfully  face  the  intro- 
duction of  machines  into  their  industry  by  strengthening 
their  organizations  and  by  following  the  course  pursued  by 
the  printers.    The   latter,   however,   had   certain   strategic 
advantages  when  they  confronted  the  typesetting  machine.^ 
(a)  The  greatest  strength  of  the  union  came  from  the  control 
of  the  large  newspaper  offices.     The  boycott  would  be  a 
particularly  effective  weapon  against  a  newspaper  in  case  of 
a  serious  labor    dispute,     (b)  The  linotype  was  first  intro- 
duced into  the  large  newspaper  offices.    As  its  use  spread 
to  the  smaller  offices,  the  latter  were  enabled  to  get  a  su|)ply 
of  skilled  operators  from  the   large  offices,     (c)   Unskilled 
operators  have  not  proved  successful  in  operating  the  lino- 
type.    The  hand  compositor's  knowledge  is  very  useful  to 
the  machine  operator.    The  third  consideration  is  of  great 
importance  because  in  the  majority  of  cases  the  introduction 
of  machinery  reduces  the  quality  of  workmanship  required 
in  the  manufacture  of  the  product.     The  linotype  operator, 
on  the  contrary,  "must  know  the  same  things"  as  the  hand 
compositor,  and  he  ''must  think  far  more  rapidly."     These 
considerations  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  labor  organizations 
in  the  other  trades,  although  using  the  same  tactics,  may  not 
be  able  to  cope  with  the  introduction  of  machinery  as  suc- 
cessfully as  have  the  printers. 

Collective  Bargaining.  Labor  is  organized  primarily  be- 
cause it  is  vitally  interested  in  the  amount,  method,  and 
time  of  remuneration  for  the  labor  of  wage  earners.  Under 
normal  conditions  and  in  small-scale  industry  wages  are  di- 
rectly determined  as  the  result  of  a  bargain  between  the  indi- 

*  Baxnett,  Yale  Review.    Vol.  13.    Reprinted  in  Commons,  Trade  Unionism. 


GOVERNMENT  AND  POLICIES 


129 


viduals  furnishing  the  labor  power  and  those  furnishing  the 
capital.  There  are  two  forms  of  wage  bargaining,  —  indi-, 
vidual  and  collective  bargaining.  If  each  individual  member 
of  a  group  of  employees  makes  a  separate  and  independent 
bargain  with  his  employer,  the  method  of  individual  bargain- 
ing is  employed.  If  the  employees  Or  a  group  of  employees 
send  representatives  to  bargain  with  the  employer,  and  an 
agreement  is  reached  which  fixes  a  standard  wage  for  each 
group  or  for  each  class  of  work,  the  method  of  collective  bar- 
gaining is  used.  The  ability  to  require  the  collective  bargain 
is  the  crucial  test  of  unionism.  Labor  disputes  in  an  industry 
in  which  collective  bargaining  prevails  are  large-scale;  single 
workmen  cannot  be  dismissed  and  replaced  because  of  con- 
troversies over  the  wage  bargain.  The  employer  faces  the 
'  loss  of  all  or  a  considerable  fraction  of  his  employees  in  case  of 
a  dispute  in  regard  to  wages. 

Individual  capitalists  have  found  cooperation  with  each 
other  advantageous.  As  a  result,  great  corporations  have 
come  into  being.  The  individual  unit  is  merged  into  the 
more  complex  legal  unit.  The  individual  investor  now  dele- 
gates his  rights  and  powers  in  regard  to  the  control  and 
management  of  the  business  into  the  hands  of  representatives, 
—  directors,  managers,  and  foremen.  The  members  of 
labor  organizations  maintain  that  a  bargain  between  individ- 
ual workmen  and  the  representatives  of  consolidated  capital 
is  of  necessity  unfair.  The  trade  union  is  a  combination 
among  wage  earners  which  corresponds  to  the  corporation  in 
the  case  of  units  of  capital.  The  wage  bargain  can  only  be 
equitable  when  representatives  of  the  wage  earners  face 
representatives  of  consolidated  capital.  Accordingly,  it  is 
maintained  that  the  system  of  collective  bargaining  is  simply 
an  outgrowth  of  business  consolidation.  The  workers  are 
forced  to  unite  and  to  bargain  unitedly,  or  to  face  dangerous 
competition  among   themselves  and   to  suffer  reduction  of 


n 


? 


I 


•in  Hi 


I 
( 


I 


130    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

wages.  The  refusal  on  the  part  of  the  superintendent  of  a 
large  factory  to  bargain  with  representatives  of  his  employees 
is  as  absurd  and  unreasonable  as  would  be  the  demand  on  the 
part  of  the  employees  for  direct  negotiations  with  the  stock- 
holders of  the  company  represented  by  the  superintendent. 

The  chief  effects  of  the  system  of  collective  bargaining  are: 
(i)  It  tends  to  level  time  wages;  (2)  to  increase  the  average 
wage;  (3)  to  establish  a  minimum  wage;  and  (4)  to  transfer 
competitive  pressure  among  workers  from  wages  to  efficiency 
and  skill.  ''The  standard  rate"  fixed  by  the  unions  through 
the  use  of  collective  bargaining  is  a  minimum  rate  or  a  ''living 
wage."  A  minimum  wage  may  also  be  established  by  legis- 
lative action.  In  actual  practice  the  standard  rate  does  tend 
toward  a  uniform  wage  where  the  time  wage  system  is  used. 
This  uniformity  in  the  rate  of  wages  is  found  within  a  given 
shop  or  in  a  given  locality;  the  collective  bargain  only  tends 
in  a  small  degree  to  reduce  the  wages  paid  in  different  local- 
ities to  a  common  level.  Collective  bargaining  between 
railway  companies  and  their  employees  presents  some  ex- 
ceptions to  this  general  statement.  Recent  increases  in  the 
wages  paid  railway  trainmen  were  first  granted  upon  one 
railway;  then  the  men  in  the  employ  of  other  roads  demanded 
that  the  same  scale  be  adopted  by  the  latter.  Collective 
bargaining  in  the  railway  world  is  leading  toward  standardizing 
the  wages  paid  by  different  railway  systems.  A  non-union 
shop  in  which  wages  are  fixed  by  individual  bargaining  will, 
however,  present  greater  variations  in  wages  than  a  union 
shop  using  the  system  of  collective  bargaining.  Unionists 
are  prone  to  object  to  grading  or  classifying  their  workers  in 
a  particular  trade.  The  members  of  labor  organizations  insist 
that  such  a  practice  is  demoralizing  and  ''tends  to  destroy 
that  friendship  which  is  essential  to  trade  unionism."  The 
unionists  also  fear  that  the  man  who  receives  higher  wages 
than  the  standard  wage  is  employed  to  act  as  a  "rusher" 


GOVERNMENT  AND   POLICIES 


131 


or  pacemaker.     He  is  hated  as  one  who  is  taking  "blood 

money. " 

The  minimum  wage  is  by  no  means  entirely  inimical  to  the 
skilled  and  efficient  worker  because  he  is  protected  by  it  in 
several  ways,  (i)  "The  union  rate  is  usually  higher  than  the 
competitive  rate  (established  by  individual  bargainmg)  would 
be.  Consequently,  if  wages  are  leveled,  they  are  leveled  up, 
not  down,  so  that  the  earnings  of  the  superior  workmen  are 
not  reduced,  even  though  the  earnings  of  the  inferior  workmen 
are  increased. "  ^  If  the  minimum  wage  were  not  leveled  up 
above  the  market  rate,  some  trouble  might  be  anticipated  in 
the  collection  of  union  dues.  (2)  The  better  workmen  are 
likely  to  be  assigned  to  the  more  delicate,  varied,  and  interest- 
ing tasks.  (3)  The  minimum  wage  prevents  an  encroachment 
upon  the  work  of  the  skilled.  Minute  subdivision  of  labor  is 
prevented  by  the  establishment  of  the  minimum  wage.  The 
employer  does  not  find  it  profitable  to  take  away  portions  of 
a  skilled  trade  and  give  them  to  an  unskilled  man  if  the  latter 
is  paid  the  standard  wage.  The  temptation  to  introduce 
young  boys  into  the  industry  is  reduced  by  the  enforcement 
of  a  high  minimum  wage  scale.  (4)  In  the  event  of  a  business 
depression  the  poor  rather  than  the  efficient  worker  is  first 
thrown  out  of  a  job.  Under  normal  conditions,  if  some  worker 
must  be  temporarily  "laid  off,"  it  will  be  the  unskilful  ones 
rather  than  the  efficient  who  will  be  chosen. 

The  standard  or  minimum  wage  fixes  certain  bounds  within 
which  competition  acts.  The  employer  is  restrained  from 
forcing  the  level  of  wages  below  that  which  is  necessary  for 
decent  Hving.  "If  the  conditions  of  employment  are  un- 
regulated, it  will  frequently  pay  an  employer  not  to  select  the 
best  workmen,  but  to  give  the  preference  to  an  incompetent 
or  inferior  man,  a  'boozer'  or  a  person  of  bad  character, 
provided  that  he  can  hire  him  at  a  sufficiently  low  wage, 

»  Adams  and  Sumner,  Labor  Problems,  p.  257. 


,/ 


l!  *  / 

w 

ii 


i 


tfl 


132    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

make  him  work  excessive  and  irregular  hours,  or  subject  him 
to  insanitary  conditions."*  The  individual  and  the  un- 
regulated wage  bargain  makes  possible  the  sweating  system. 
The  introduction  of  the  standard  wage  makes  for  the  survival 
of  the  fittest.  Competition  in  regard  to  wages  is  limited,  and 
the  stress  is  now  laid  upon  efficiency  and  quality  of  product. 
Unionism  at  its  best,  as  in  the  case  of  the  stove  molders,^  has 
in  a  large  measure  actually  transferred  competition  from  price- 
slashing  and  wage-cutting  to  a  struggle  for  better  quality  of 
product.  The  true  competitive  ideal  is  not  absolutely  un- 
regulated '* jungle"  competition,  but  competition  according 
to  certain  rules  of  the  game  which  tend  to  prevent  the  degra- 
^      dation  of  the  worker  and  the  deterioration  of  the  product. 

The  establishment  of  a  minimum  wage  does  not  necessarily 
mean  good  wages  for  the  incompetent  workman;  but  it  does 
mean  that  the  employable  worker  be  given  sufficient  to  keep 
him  and  his  family  in  health  and  efficiency.  The  incompetent 
will  be  thrown  out  of  employment,  and  must  be  provided  for 
in  some  other  manner;  or  they  will  be  obliged  to  enter  an 
inferior  wage  group.  The  inefficient  employer  will  also  be 
forced  to  the  wall;  and  the  sweater  will  lose  his  occupation. 
The  establishment  of  a  minimum  or  a  living  wage  is  a  partial 
recognition  of  a  system  of  distribution  according  to  needs. 
Needs  are  frequently  accepted  as  a  determining  factor  in  the 
case  of  professional  salaries,  as,  for  example,  of  school  teachers. 
Teachers  have  certain  necessary  requirements  and  sundry 
more  or  less  conventional  needs;  the  latter  are  potent  factors 
in  determining  the  salary  of  teachers  as  a  class. 

The  chief  objections  to  the  minimum  wage  system  are 
three  in  number,  (i)  It  increases  the  amount  of  inefficient 
work.  This  directly  controverts  one  argument  favorable  to 
the  system.    An  extract  from  a  speech  made  by  the  presi- 

*  Webb,  Industrial  Democracy ,  p.  716. 

'  See  the  section  on  collective  bargaining  in  the  stove  industry. 


GOVERNMENT  AND   POLICIES 


^33 


dent  of  an  employers'  association  in  New  Zealand  is  typical 
of  the  attitude  of  certain  employers.  ''One  of  the  most 
serious  charges  that  can  be  laid  against  unionism  is  that  it 
reduces  the  efficiency  of  labor.  This  is  the  direct  and  inev- 
itable outcome  of  the  minimum  wage,  which  means  scaling 
efficiency  down  to  the  level  of  the  least  competent  workman. 
This  is  perfectly  manifested  in  theor>%  and  practical  evidence 
has  been  adduced  in  connection  with  more  than  one  trade  now 
working  under  awards  of  the  court.  The  direct  effect  upon 
industry  cannot  fail  to  be  felt  sooner  or  later,  revealing  itself 
in  increased  cost  and  inferior  workmanship.  And  this  effect 
will  become  more  marked  as  the  area  of  deterioration  ex- 
tends. "  *  This  tendency  will  be  more  apparent  in  eras  of 
'good  times"  than  in  periods  of  trade  depression.  When 
there  is  considerable  demand  for  labor,  poorer  workers  will  be 
employed  than  when  the  demand  is  slack.  As  a  consequence 
not  only  will  the  average  efficiency  in  the  trade  be  lowered, 
but  the  efficiency  of  each  individual  among  the  better  workers 
is  in  danger  of  appreciable  deterioration.  The  presence  of 
less  efficient,  but  equally  paid,  workers  and  the  remoteness  of 
the  danger  of  unemployment  produce  this  regrettable  effect 
upon  the  worker. 

(2)  By  causing  the  early  displacement  of  workers  who  are 
past  their  prime,  the  minimum  wage  system  increases  unem- 
ployment. The  stress  and  strain  of  industry  are  such  that 
the  older  workers  cannot  work  side  by  side  with  the  younger 
and  more  vigorous.  Where  no  minimum  is  established  the 
older  workers  are  driven  to  accept  very  low  wages  or  be  dis- 
charged ;  in  case  a  minimum  is  established  the  first  alternative 
is  lacking.  A  system  of  old  age  pensions  is  one  way  of 
caring  for  the  old  and  enfeebled  workers.  A  gradation  of 
labor  within  a  trade  may  obviate  some  of  the  difficulties. 

(3)  The  minimum  wage  system  does  not  adequately  recog- 

*  Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor.    No.  49,  p.  1222. 


J 


m 


134    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

nize  inequalities  in  the  ability  and  the  efficiency  of  different 
workmen  within  a  given  trade  group.  Employers  vehemently 
assert  that  the  tendency  is  to  reduce  all  to  a  dead  level  of 
mediocrity,  that  the  effect  is  vicious,  and  that  progress  is 
retarded.  As  has  been  pointed  out,  the  attempt  at  gradation 
is  looked  upon  by  members  of  the  union  as  endangering  the 
solidarity  of  the  organization.  Employers  antagonistic  to 
labor  organizations  could  use  classification  and  gradation  as 
a  powerful  weapon  against  nearly  all  unions  except  those 
composed  of  highly  skilled  workers.  Gradation  of  workers 
might  also  be  used  as  a  cloak  to  cover  stealthy  reductions  in 
the  average  rate  of  wages. 

The  Closed  Shop  Policy.  An  open  shop  is  one  in  which 
union  and  non-union  men  work,  or  may  work,  side  by  side. 
No  discrimination  is  practised  against  union  or  non-union 
men.  In  some  cases,  this  arrangement  is  purely  informal, 
and  collective  bargaining  is  not  utilized.  In  other  cases  a 
more  or  less  definite  agreement  may  be  entered  into  between 
the  employer  and  his  organized  employees. 

At  least  three  distinct  types  of  the  closed  shop  may  be 
found:  (a)  The  anti-union  shop.  The  anti-union  shop  is  closed 
to  the  union  man.  The  employer  in  such  a  shop  closes  the 
door  upon  the  union  man.  He  will  not  knowingly  hire  a 
union  man,  and  he  will  discharge  any  employee  who  openly 
joins  a  union.  Frequently,  the  applicant  for  a  job  in  an  anti- 
union shop  is  required  to  sign  a  card  stating,  among  other 
things,  that  he  is  or  is  not  affiliated  with  a  labor  organization. 
The  union  man  is  never  hired.  In  some  cases,  the  job  seeker 
is  asked  to  sign  a  statement  to  the  effect  that  he  will  not 
join  a  labor  union  while  in  the  employ  of  the  company.  Un- 
der an  Oklahoma  statute,  such  action  on  the  part  of  a  person 
or  corporation  constitutes  a  misdemeanor.  The  federal 
statute  restraining  railway  companies  engaged  in  interstate 
commerce  from  discharging  an  employee  because  of  member- 


GOVERNMENT  AND   POLICIES 


135 


ship  in  a  union  was  declared  unconstitutional.  Many  bitter 
opponents  of  the  other  forms  of  the  closed  shop  are  ardent 
advocates  of  the  anti-union  form  of  the  closed  shop.  They 
call  their  factory  an  open  or  a  non-union,  not  a  closed,  shop; 
and  they  have  much  to  say  about  the  tyranny  of  the  closed 
shop  when  closed  by  the  union. 

(b)  The  Closed  Shop  with  the  Open  Union.  The  employer 
is  allowed  to  hire  whomsoever  he  desires  to  employ;  but  the 
new  employee,  if  not  a  member  of  the  union,  must  become 
affiliated  with  it.  (c)  The  Closed  Shop  with  the  Closed  Union. 
The  employer  is  restricted  to  the  membership  of  the  union 
for  new  employees.  This  is  the  highest  form  of  ''unioniza- 
tion" of  an  estabhshment.  Men  who  lose  their  good  stand- 
ing in  the  union  must  be  discharged.  If  the  union  requires 
a  large  initiation  fee  or  insists  upon  rigid  apprenticeship  rules, 
this  form  of  the  closed  shop  is  highly  monopolistic  in  charac- 
ter. Hereafter,  the  first  form  will  be  called  the  anti-union 
shop,  and  the  second  and  third  will  be  termed  the  closed  shop. 

The  rules  governing  the  closed  shop  are  enforced  by  means 
of  one  of  two  methods,  —  the  card  system  or  the  check-off 
system.^  The  card  system  is  used  most  widely,  and  is  the 
more  difficult  system  to  carry  out  effectively.  Union  officials 
must  inspect  the  shop  from  time  to  time,  and  appeal  to  the 
foreman  or  superintendent  to  discharge  all  employees  who 
have  not  paid  their  union  dues  or  who  for  any  other  reason 
are  no  longer  in  good  standing  in  the  union.  Under  this 
system,  the  union  officials  must  frequently  exert  pressure  in 
order  to  compel  individual  members  to  pay  their  union  dues. 

The  check-off  system  has  only  a  restricted  application.  It 
is  used  in  the  bituminous  coal  mines  and  in  the  window  glass 
manufactories.  The  supervision  required  by  union  officials 
is  very  slight.  The  company  agrees  to  deduct  from  the  pay 
of  its  employees,  the  fees,  fines,  and  irregular  assessments 

^  Stockton,  Johns  Hopkins  University  Circular.     No.  224. 


1 


I. 

% 


m 


.» 


I 


136    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

levied  by  the  union.  These  sums  are  turned  over  to  the 
treasurer  of  the  union.  Under  this  system  the  employee 
always  remains  a  paid-up  member  of  the  union,  because  the 
employer  has  a  standing  order  to  deduct  the  union's  fines  and 
dues  from  the  wages  of  the  employee.  From  the  standpoint 
of  the  union,  the  check-off  system  is  a  very  efficient  method 
of  holding  its  members  and  of  collecting  the  dues  and  fines. 
Mr.  Stockton  presents  two  reasons  for  the  restricted  applica- 
tion of  the  check-off  system,  (i)  The  union  desires  to  be  less 
dependent  upon  the  employers  of  its  members.  (2)  Many 
employers  are  not  anxious  to  assist  in  unionizing  their  estab- 
lishments. However,  very  little  friction  seems  to  have  arisen 
in  the  limited  number  of  establishments  in  which  it  has  been 
tried. 

The  closed  shop  is  a  product  of  mutual  distrust  and  antag- 
onism between  employers  and  employees.     Organized  labor 
has  little  confidence  in  the  employer  who  demands  an  open 
shop  in  the  name  of  liberty  and  freedom  of  contract.     The 
union  man  believes,  and  not  without  reason,  that  this  oft- 
repeated  appeal  to  the  traditional  rights  of  the  individual 
conceals  the  sinister  motive  of  keeping  down  the  wage  level 
and  defeating  the  aims  of  organized  labor  for  the  betterment 
of  the  wage  earners.    The  employers  distrust  their  employees 
who  demand  a  closed  shop.     They  urge  that  the  union  wishes 
to  control  the  labor  supply  and  to  dictate  the  conditions 
governing  the  operation  of  the  plant.    The  opponents  of  the 
closed  shop  also  proclaim  it  to'  be  un-American,  monopolistic, 
and  unfair  to  the  unorganized  workers.    The  following  quo- 
tation from  a  trade  journal  is  a  fair  sample  of  the  sentimental 
appeal  made  in  favor  of  the  open  shop.     *'The  open  shop  is  a 
concrete  example  of  the  spirit  of  American  institutions  and 
represents  that  liberty  which,  on  a  larger  scale,  our  fathers 
fought  for.  .  .  .  The  open  shop  allows  a  mechanic  to  take 
personal  pride  in  his  work  and  makes  the  amount  of  his  earn- 


GOVERNMENT  AND   POLICIES 


137 


ings  dependent  solely  on  his  skill  and  industry.  .  .  .  The 
open  shop  stands  for  American  manhood."  The  advocates 
of  the  closed  shop  declare  that  the  open  shop  in  many 
industries  means  low  wages,  the  long  working  day,  over- 
driving, and  unsanitary  working  conditions. 

In  the  industries  where  open  shop  agreements  are  contin- 
ued year  after  year,  three  conditions  appear  to  be  essential:* 
(a)  Strong  and  well-disposed  organizations  must  exist  among 
both  employers  and  employees,  (b)  The  employer  must  pay 
the  same  scale  of  wages  to  both  union  and  non-union  men. 
A  definite  rate  must  be  agreed  upon  and  no  attempt  be 
made  to  cut  the  rate.  The  railways  have  almost  universally 
adopted  this  practice,  (c)  All  unsettled  complaints  must 
be  referred  for  settlement  to  a  joint  conference  composed  of 
representatives  of  the  union  and  of  the  employers.  Unions 
having  full  treasuries  and  emphasizing  insurance  features  do 
not,  as  a  rule,  place  as  much  dependence  upon  the  closed  shop 
as  do  those  which  are  financially  weaker  and  which  do  not 
pay  benefits.  In  trades  in  which  a  long  term  of  apprentice- 
ship is  necessary  or  required,  the  demand  for  the  closed  shop 
is  not  notably  insistent.  On  the  contrary,  the  constant 
influx  of  immigrants  is  a  factor  in  producing  the  demand  for 
a  closed  shop.  A  variety  of  circumstances  determine  whether 
a  union  will  or  will  not  demand  the  closed  shop.  The  same 
labor  organization  may  demand  the  closed  shop  in  one  shop 
or  locality,  and  gracefully  acquiesce  to  an  open  shop  policy 
elsewhere.  In  England  the  closed  shop  controversy  is  of 
little  consequence.  The  British  unionists  are  chiefly  skilled 
men,  apprenticeship  rules  are  more  rigidly  enforced  than  on 
this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  the  amount  of  immigration  is  small, 
the  non-unionist  is  an  Englishman  accustomed  to  a  standard 
of  living  similar  to  that  of  the  union  man,  and  the  subdivision 

'  Commons,  "Causes  of  Union-Shop  Policy,"  Publications  of  the  American 
Economic  Association,  1905.     The  student  should  read  this  article. 


138    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

of  labor  is  not  so  minute  as  in  this  country;  and,  consequently, 
the  skilled  English  worker  is  not  so  directly  and  dangerously 
menaced  by  the  unskilled  as  is  his  American  brother. 

Although  the  demand  for  a  closed  shop  grows  out  of  the 
mutual  antagonism  between  employers'  associations  and 
labor  organizations,  and  disappears  almost  entirely  when  an 
agreement  system  and  a  uniform  scale  of  wages  are  adopted, 
it  will  probably  also  recede  into  the  background  if  (a)  the 
struggle  between  labor  and  capital  becomes  acute,  (b)  the 
unions  grow  in  strength  and  membership,  and  (c)  the  skilled 
and  unskilled  are  knit  together  into  compact  industrial  unions. 
The  closed  shop  is  essentially  a  policy  adapted  to  an  era  of 
small-scale  industrial  organizations;  it  is  primarily  a  trade- 
union  policy. 

When  a  strong  employers'  association,  controlling  large  por- 
tions of  the  industrial  field,  faces  a  powerful,  well-disciplined 
and  centrally  controlled  labor  organization,  the  question  of 
the  closed  versus  the  open  shop  will  not  long  continue  to  be  the 
important  point  at  issue.  The  unionized  shop  may  then  be 
accepted  as  a  matter  of  course  just  as  are  the  joint-stock  com- 
pany and  the  corporation.  The  American  people  have  ever 
been  jealous  of  encroachments  upon  individual  rights  and  priv- 
ileges; and  the  evolution  of  great  and  well-organized  indus- 
trial systems  involving  the  organization  of  both  labor  and 
capital  cannot  be  accomplished  without  much  social  and 
industrial  friction.  Opposition  and  coercion  perhaps  mark 
a  phase  in  the  change  from  unrestrained  competition  and 
small  business  units  to  a  condition  of  greater  unification  and 
cooperation;  they  are  the  growing  pains  of  industrial  society. 

The  two  arguments  in  favor  of  the  closed  shop  are,  "senti- 
mental" and  economic.  According  to  the  first  method  of 
justifying  the  closed  shop,  wages  have  been  raised  and  condi- 
tions of  labor  within  a  given  trade  improved  as  the  result  of 
the  efforts  and  the  sacrifices  of  the  members  of  labor  organiza- 


GOVERNMENT  AND  POLICIES 


139 


tions.    All  workers  in  a  trade  are  benefited;  and  "he  who  is 
benefited  should  bear  his  share  of  the  expenses  of  the  bene- 
factor."   The  man  who  refuses  to  join  the  union  and  bear 
his  share  of  the  expenses  necessary  to  the  success  of  the 
union's  policies  is  a  parasite  and  deserves  to  be  excluded  from 
employment.    Through   the   efforts  of  labor  organizations, 
unionists  expect  not  only  to  help  themselves,  but  indirectly 
to  aid  all  wage  earners.    Viewed  through  these  spectacles, 
the  non-unionist  or  "scab"  strikes  a  blow  at  the  hearthstone 
of  every  worker  in  the  land  when  he  refuses  to  conform  to  the 
program  of  the  union.    At  best,  the  "scab"  is  an  extremely 
short-sighted  man,  and  one  who  must  not  be  allowed  to 
ruthlessly  take  away  such  advantages  as  have  been  gained 
by  labor  organizations.     The  following  quotation  well  illus- 
trates the  union  point  of  view.     "  To  the  non-unionist,  despite 
that  which  his  advocates  say  for  him,  cannot  be  attributed 
the  virtue  of  helping  his  fellow  workmen  or  contributing 
toward  the  estabUshment  of  more  rightful  relations  between 
workingmen  and  their  employers.    No  force  but  that  of 
persuasion  and  moral  and  intelligent  influences  should  be 
exercised  to  convert  the  non-unionist  to  membership  in  our 
organization,  but  it  is  hurtful  from  every  viewpoint,  and  to 
every  enlightened  interest,  to  advocate  the  'open  shop'"^ 

The  economic  necessity  for  the  closed  shop  depends  in  a 
large  measure  upon  the  attitude  of  the  employer.  If  the 
employer  insists  upon  his  right  to  make  individual  bargains 
with  non-union  employees,  and  discriminates  against  union 
men,  or  hires  non-union  men  at  a  lower  wage  than  that  paid 
union  men,  the  union  will  sooner  or  later  be  obliged  to  fight 
or  be  disintegrated.  The  hostile  employer,  unless  restrained 
by  the  closed  shop  or  by  a  uniform  system  of  wage  payment 
for  all  workers  coupled  with  a  system  of  apprenticeship  and 
of  promotion,   can   deunionize    his    shop  unless  the  union 

^American  Federationist,  November,  1903,  p.  1196. 


i 


? 


K 


'  i 


"^wF 


140    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

includes  practically  all  the  workers  available  in  that  trade  01 
industry.  The  union  facing  a  hostile  employer  anxious  ta 
reduce  wages  and  to  lengthen  the  working  day,  and  in  touch 
with  a  supply  of  non-union  workers,  is  forced,  unless  it  gives 
up  all  hope  of  efficient  trade-union  action,  to  adopt  the  closed 
shop  policy.  Under  such  conditions  the  closed  shop  means 
more  bread  and  butter,  more  leisure,  and  better  treatment 
for  the  wage  earner. 

Restriction  of  Output,  (a)  By  employers.  Restriction  of 
output  is  practiced  by  both  employers  and  employees.  Em- 
ployers* associations  aim  to  limit  the  total  amount  of  output 
produced  during  a  given  period.  One  purpose  underlying 
the  formation  of  large  industrial  combinations  is  that  of  con- 
trolling the  output  in  order  that  prices  may  be  raised  and  net 
profits  increased.  The  withdrawal  of  natural  resources  from 
use,  whether  justifiable  or  not,  is  a  form  of  limitation  of  out- 
put. The  real  essence  of  monopoly  is  found  in  the  power  to 
restrict  output.  The  advantage  of  a  patent,  copyright,  or 
trAde-mark  is  derived  from  the  legal  right  to  control  the 
entire  output  of  the  particular  article.  The  earlier  form  of 
association  or  pool,  such  as  those  in  the  iron  industry  or  in  the 
window-glass  business,  was  also  directly  concerned  with  the 
limitation  of  output.  The  famous  ''Whiskey  Combination" 
limited  the  output  of  the  distilleries  in  the  association.  The 
employer  as  a  producer  is  not  primarily  interested  in  the 
production  of  goods;  he  is  directly  interested  in  producing 
values.  The  market  value  of  a  small  quantity  of  one  kind  of 
goods  may  be  greater  than  that  of  a  larger  quantity.  It  is 
often  profitable  to  restrict  the  output,  thus  enabling  the  seller 
to  raise  the  price  sufficiently  to  increase  the  total  income  from 
the  sale  of  the  product. 

(b)  By  labor  organizations.  Unions  often  restrict  the  rate 
of  work,  or  the  output  of  their  members  for  a  given  period  of 
time,  usually  per  day.     Restriction  of  output  by  organized 


GOVERNMENT  AND   POLICIES 


141 


labor  may  be  divided  into  three  classes,  (i)  The  output  per 
hour  of  the  individual,  or  his  speed  or  rate  of  work,  may  be 
limited;  or  the  number  of  hours  during  which  he  is  allowed  to 
work  may  be  fixed.  The  most  common  method  of  limiting  . 
the  hours  is  by  fixing  the  maximum  number  of  hours  for  a 
given  working  day.  It  is  often  asserted  that  such  a  rule  does 
not  cause  limitation  of  output  because  as  much  work  can  be 
performed  day  after  day,  year  in  and  year  out,  where  eight  or 
nine  hours  constitute  the  working  day  as  when  ten  or  twelve 
or  more  hours  are  required.  Less  frequently  limitations  have 
been  placed  upon  the  number  of  working  hours  per  year.  The 
rule  of  the  bricklayers  that  bricks  shall  not  be  laid  with  more 
than  one  hand,  and  the  prohibition  of  the  use  of  any  imple- 
ment other  than  the  trowel  in  spreading  mortar,  are  good 
examples  of  limitation  of  output.  The  reason  given  for  such 
regulations  is  improvement  in  the  quality  of  the  work.  The 
plumbers  forbid  the  use  of  the  bicycle  in  going  from  job  to 
job  because  a  man  can  go  more  quickly  than  on  the  cars 
or  by  walking. "  ^  Some  years  ago  the  carpenters  of  Chicago 
adopted  the  following  rule:  ''Any  member  guilty  of  exces- 
sive work  or  rushing  on  any  job  shall  be  reported  and  shall 
be  subject  to  a  fine  of  five  dollars."  This  rule  was  directed 
against  the  practice  of  paying  a  few  men  extra  wages  to  act 
as  "rushers"  or  pacemakers.  It  may  be  defended  as  a  health 
measure.  It  may  also  be  defended  as  necessary  in  connec- 
tion with  the  system  of  collective  bargaining.  One  man  may 
underbid  another  by  offering  to  do  a  larger  amount  of  work 
in  a  given  time  for  the  standard  wage.  Unchecked,  this 
tendency  would  lead  to  a  task  system  such  as  is  found  in  the 
sweated  industries. 

(2)  Certain  regulations  relating  to  the  use  of  machines  also 
aim  at  restriction  of  output.     Five  distinct  classes  of  regula- 

»  Hollander  and  Bamett,  Stidies   in  American  Trade  Unionism,  p.  307, 
also  p.  .306. 


% 


142    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

tions  as  to  the  use  of  the  machine  may  be  distinguished:  (a) 
the  prohibition  of  the  use  of  the  machine,  attempted  by  the 
window-glass  workers  and  the  cigar  makers;  (b)  the  Umitation 
of  the  output  of  the  machine,  as  required  by  the  soft  coal 
miners;  (c)  allowing  only  one  machine  to  be  operated  at  a 
time  by  one  man,  as  is  required  by  the  English  machinists; 
(d)  requiring  several  men  upon  one  machine,  as  is  demanded 
by  the  pressmen  and  the  stone  cutters;  (e)  requiring  skilled 
men  to  operate  the  machines,  as  has  been  done  by  the  printers 
in  regard  to  the  use  of  the  linotype.  The  rule  that  skilled 
men  be  used  as  operators  does  not  in  reality  cause  restriction 
of  output;  but  rather  is  it  a  provision  in  regard  to  payment 
of  wages. 

(3)  Union  regulations  in  regard  to  division  of  labor  may 
cause  restriction  of  output.  Some  unions  have  attempted 
to  prevent  the  splitting  up  of  skilled  work.  Subdivision  of 
labor,  at  least  within  certain  indefinite  limits,  increases  the 
dexterity  and  the  proficiency  of  members  of  a  group  and  tends 
to  increase  the  total  output  of  the  group.  It  must  not  be 
overlooked,  however,  that  subdivision  of  labor  is  often  utilized 
as  a  method  of  reducing  wages  rather  than  of  increasing 
output. 

The  three  interested  parties  —  the  employer,  the  employee, 
and  society  or  the  general  public  —  view  the  matter  of  re- 
striction of  output  by  labor  organizations  from  quite  different 
angles  of  vision.  The  employer  is  anxious  to  keep  wages 
low,  in  his  own  establishment  at  least,  because  by  so  doing 
his  profits  will  be  increased,  and  he  will  obtain  an  advantage 
over  his  competitors,  if  he  has  competitors.  The  employer 
is  eager  to  get  as  much  work  as  possible  out  of  his  employees 
for  a  minimum  wage.  The  employee  is  interested  in  raising 
the  wage  rate  and  in  preservation  of  his  health  and  efficiency 
as  a  workman.  Both  will  unhesitatingly  declare  that  they 
favor  a  **fair"  day's  work  for  a  **fair"  wage;  but  dissensions 


GOVERNMENT  AND   POLICIES 


U3 


arise  over  the  interpretation  of  the  word  ''fair."  Society 
desires  an  increase  in  the  total  productivity  in  terms  of  prod- 
uct, not  of  value.  But  society  is  also  interested  in  conserv- 
ing human  resources  and  in  developing  capable  and  efficient 
men  and  women.  ''Killing  time"  or  "soldiering"  reduces 
productivity,  and  injures  the  efficiency  and  moral  stamina 
of  the  worker.  On  the  other  hand,  overdriving  and  the  long 
working  day  tend  to  destroy  the  human  resources  of  the 
nation,  and  to  lower  the  worker  to  the  level  of  the  brute 
or  of  the  automatic  machine.  The  best  —  the  normal  — 
from  the  viewpoint  of  society  is  a  mean  between  two  extremes: 
. —  "ca  canny"  or  "killing  time"  and  overdriving  or  "man 
killing. "  The  cost  of  the  preparation  of  a  new  generation  of 
workers  and  the  expense  of  providing  for  the  worn-out,  dis- 
abled, and  discarded  employees  are  charges  upon  the  com- 
munity, not  upon  the  business  enterprises  of  the  nation. 
Insurance  systems  for  employees  in  case  of  accidents,  sick- 
ness, old  age,  and  death,  which  make  all  or  a  part  of  the 
insurance  premiums  a  charge  upon  the  business,  would  tend 
to  minimize  overdriving  for  the  obvious  reason  that  over- 
driving quickly  wears  out  the  employees  and  increases  certain 
elements  of  expense. 

The  average  employee  will  maintain  greater  speed  and  turn 
out  a  larger  output  per  day  under  the  piece-work  system  than 
when  working  under  the  time  wage  system.  The  reason  for 
this  difference  must  be  sought  in  the  psychology  of  man.  The 
quality  of  the  work  performed  under  the  piece-work  system 
will  on  the  average  not  be  as  good  as  that  performed  under 
the  time  wage  systeyi;  and  if  the  material  is  expensive,  much 
may  be  wasted.  Employees  work  faster  in  times  of  depres- 
sion than  in  periods  of  prosperity.  The  fear  of  discharge  is 
the  potent  incentive  during  a  time  of  depression.  This  phe- 
nomenon, which  may  also  be  traced  back  to  the  psychology 
of  the  worker,  tends  to  accentuate  the  difference  between  the 


m 


m 


1.     I 


■ 


144    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

two  periods.  The  demand  for  workers  is  increased  when 
work  is  plentiful  and  the  supply  of  unemployed  workers 
relatively  small,  and  the  demand  for  workers  is  diminished  at 
a  time  when  the  supply  of  unemployed  workers  is  relatively 
large.  In  England  the  practice  of  ' '  going  easy' ' or  "  ca  canny'' 
is  sometimes  utilized  as  a  diluted  form  of  the  strike.  It  is 
a  means  of  formal  and  united  protest  against  what  the 
worker  conceives  to  be  unfair  treatment. 

Restriction  of  output  by  employees  is  usually  justified  by 
the  ''lump-of-work"  argument  or  the  ''health-of-the-worker" 
argument.  The  first  argimient  is  the  one  frequently  used  by 
the  old-line  trade  unionist.  The  industrial  unionist  and  the 
unskilled  workers  usually  emphasize  the  health  argument. 
According  to  the  lump-of-work  argument  there  is  a  certain 
quantity  of  work  to  be  performed.  This  quantity  is  assumed 
to  be  practically  fixed  irrespective  of  the  expenses  of  produc- 
tion. By  "  soldiering  "  and  by  "  taking  it  easy, "  workers  may 
make  jobs  for  other  workmen.  As  the  wage  fund  theory  of 
the  English  classical  economists  assumed  wages  to  be  de- 
termined by  the  simple  arithmetical  method  of  dividing  the 
wage  fund  by  the  number  of  wage  earners,  the  lump-of-work 
theory  assumes  that  the  number  of  wage  earners  to  be  em- 
ployed may  be  ascertained  by  dividing  a  definite  amount  of 
work  to  be  performed  by  the  amount  performed  by  each 
individual,  irrespective  of  the  costs  of  production  or  the  price 
of  the  product.  When  stated  in  this  bald  form  and  when 
applied  to  all  industries,  it  is  unnecessary  to  attempt  to  refute 
the  argument.  Economists  have  often  condemned  the  lump- 
of-work  argument  as  a  transparent  fallacy;  but  the  trade 
unionist  still  clings  to  it.  It  is,  therefore,  fitting  that  the 
student  of  labor  problems,  instead  of  ridicuUng  and  reviling 
the  trade  unionists,  should  try  to  examine  the  matter  from 
their  viewpoint. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  th^  economist  assumes  free- 


11 


GOVERNMENT  AND  POLICIES 


145 


dom  of  competition  and  the  mobility  of  labor,  and  that  he  is 
chiefly  concerned  with  long  periods  of  time.  The  trade 
unionist  is  interested  in  practical  affairs  in  which  economic 
friction  bulks  large,  and  he  is  intent  upon  the  ''short  run." 
The  workman  is  chiefly  concerned  with  the  work  of  obtaining 
the  comforts  and  the  necessities  of  life  for  himself  and  his 
family;  he  is  only  vaguely  interested  in  that  indefinite  entity 
known  as  the  general  welfare  of  society  in  the  lump.  The 
knowledge  that  a  certain  policy,  if  pursued  by  all  for  a  period 
of  years,  will  inevitably  bring  about  reductions  in  the  wage 
scale  does  not  appeal  to  the  average  wage  earner  with  a 
family  to  feed,  clothe,  and  shelter  in  the  direct  and  forceful 
manner  that  the  immediate  probability  of  slack  work  does. 
He  sees  that  by  ''nursing"  a  particular  job  he  may  work 
longer  or  another  fellow  workman  may  be  employed.  This 
is  something  tangible,  the  other  is  a  remote  and  uncertain 
possibility.  Immediate  work  for  John  overshadows  the 
vision  of  a  chance  of  future  employment  for  Tom,  Dick,  and 
Harry,  and  other  unnamed  and  imknown  individuals. 

Consider  such  a  business  as  the  stove  or  the  window-glass 
industry.  The  demand  for  stoves  or  for  window  glass  does 
not  vary  in  a  manner  commensurate  with  changes  in  the 
market  price  of  those  articles.  There  is  a  demand  which 
does  not  vary  greatly  from  year  to  year;  or,  if  it  does  vary, 
the  variations  are  due  to  changes  in  business  conditions 
rather  than  to  any  changes  in  the  price  of  stoves  or  of  window 
glass.  From  the  point  of  view  of  the  skilled  stove  molders 
or  the  window-glass  workers,  there  is  a  real,  concrete  lump  of 
work.  If  some  of  the  stove  molders  or  of  the  window-glass 
workers  "rush"  or  "increase  the  pace,"  the  others  will  be 
thrown  out  of  a  job.  Some  will  be  idle  or  they  will  be  forced 
into  other  industries.  Manufacturers  clearly  recognize  that 
the  market  will  carry  only  so  much  of  their  product,  and  a 
certain  lump-of-work  is  required  to  make  this  product.    It 


'•I 


w  i  "i 


>ji 


IB 


146    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

is  this  particular  lump-of-work  in  which  the  trade  unionist 
is  interested.  President  Lynch  of  the  Typographical  Union 
is  reported  to  have  stated  that  the  printers  spent  about 
$4,000,000  to  estabUsh  the  eight-hour  day,  and  that  ''for 
years  to  come  there  will  be  such  a  demand  for  printers  that 
all  who  thoroughly  learn  the  trade  will  be  paid  wages  over 
any  scale  heretofore  adopted."^ 

The  intricacy  of  today's  industrial  operations  separates 
widely  in  time  and  space  the  effect  of  an  action  from  the  action 
itself.  This  is  one  of  the  characteristic  marks  of  the  indus- 
trial world  of  the  twentieth  century.  It  is  this  complexity 
which  often  causes  restriction  of  output.  The  effect  of  an 
action  is  not  clearly  seen;  or  its  effect  is  seen  to  be  so  widely 
distributed  that  a  man's  personal  interest  in  it  seems  infini- 
tesimal. Again,  the  belief  that  restriction  of  output  by  wage 
earners  strikes  a  blow  at  monopoly  profits  furnishes  an 
imderlying  motive  for  the  practice. 

When  restricting  the  output  of  individual  workmen,  in 
order  to  make  work  for  other  workers  in  the  same  trade,  the 
union  man  is  actuated  by  selfish  motives;  he  is  interested  in 
benefiting  himself  and  the  members  of  his  union.  When 
the  unionist  adopts  this  policy  of  restriction  he  is  selfish,  and 
he  may  be  short-sighted;  but  he  is  not  devoid  of  intellectual 
acuteness.  Monopoly  is  usually  condemned  as  retarding 
economic  progress;  but  individuals  and  classes  certainly  de- 
rive economic  advantages  through  the  exercise  of  monopo- 
listic power.  Likewise,  restricting  the  output  of  workers  in 
order  to  give  employment  to  a  larger  number  in  a  restricted 
group  may  be  condemned  as  injurious  to  society,  but  it  is  not 
clear  that  the  members  of  that  particular  group  are  injured. 
And  it  is  difficult  to  successfully  prove  that  it  is  more  immoral 
for  workers  to  restrict  output  or  to  give  as  little  work  as  possi- 
ble for  as  high  a  wage  as  possible  than  for  the  managers  of 
*  American  Federationist,  Dec,  1907,  p.  973^  first  columiL 


GOVERNMENT  AND  POLICIES 


147 


great  syndicates  to  restrict  output  or  to  try  to  get  as  much 
work  as  possible  for  the  least  possible  wage.  ^  The  lump- 
of-work  argument  is  surely  not  fantastic  as  long  as  class  or 
interest  antagonisms  play  an  important  role  in  social  and 
political  affairs,  and  in  a  country  where  each  person  is  still 
expected  and  urged  to  look  out  for  ''number  one.'' 

Still  another  phase  of  the  argument  presents  itself.    If  the 
workers  in  one  establishment  are  speeded  up  and  those  in 
competing  establishments  maintain  the  old  rate  of  speed, 
there  is  no  certainty  that  the  speeded-up  workers  will  receive 
their  share  in  the  extra  profits  due  to  these  extraordinary 
efforts.     But  the  workers  in  other  establishments  will  soon 
be  forced  to  follow  the  lead  of  the  first  establishment,  and  the 
increase  in  total  output  may  cause  such  a  reduction  in  price 
as  to  reduce  the  total  value  of  the  output.     In  an  industry 
producing  a  product  for  which  the  demand  is  inelastic,  this  is 
not  a  purely  imaginary  contingency.    In  such  a  case,  a  read- 
justment of  wages  and  of  employment  will  occur  within  that 
industry.    Outsiders  might  benefit  from  the  speeding-up  of 
the  group,  but  the  members  of  the  group  would  lose  rather 
than  gain.     Even  if  the  value  as  well  as  the  amount  of  the 
output  were  increased,   unless   the  workers  were   strongly 
organized  —  practically    a    monopolistic    group  —  there    is 
little  reason  to  suppose  that  they  can  gain  concessions  from 
their  employer  equivalent  to  the  increased  speed  of  the  worker 
and  to  the  additional  expenditure  of  energy  required  of  him. 
Restriction   of   output  is  often  justified   as   necessary  in 
order  to  preserve  the  health  and  vigor  of  the  worker,  that  is, 
to  conserve  the  human  resources  of  the  nation.    Energy  and 
the  ability  to  produce  are  the  workingman's  capital,  but  it  is 
intangible  and  is  not  adequately  protected  by  law.    The 
trade  unionists  declare  that  speeding  up  beyond  certain  more 
or  less  definite  limits  impairs  the  efficiency  of  the  worker  and 

*  See  Mitchell,  Organized  Labor.     Chapter  29. 


'* 


r' 


lit 


m 


148    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

reduces  the  total  output  during  his  lifetime.  From  this  point 
of  view,  it  is  little  short  of  robbery  to  quickly  wear  out  a 
workingman  and  impair  his  capital  while  only  paying  ''living 
wages."  "An  industry  which  uses  up  the  vital  energy  of  a 
worker  in  a  few  years  is  coining  the  nation's  life-blood  into 
dividends.  No  industry  has  a  right  to  more  than  that  amount 
of  the  worker's  energy  which  can  normally  be  replaced  by  the 
food  and  rest  allowed  him. "  ^  It  is  obviously  to  the  interest 
of  the  worker  and  of  society  that  overdriving  and  sweating 
be  abolished.  As  long  as  the  policy  of  organized  labor  is 
directed  toward  such  a  consummation,  the  trade  union  is 
acting  in  a  legitimate  and  desirable  manner.  Restriction  of 
the  output  of  an  individual  worker  during  a  given  day,  week, 
or  year  may  be  justified  because  it  increases  his  total  output 
and  allows  the  worker  to  become  a  better  citizen  and  a  more 
desirable  member  of  society.  Careful  tests  could  be  made 
in  order  to  ascertain  the  proper  amount  of  time  needed  to 
perform  a  given  job.  Systematic  investigations  of  this 
nature  would  give  definite  standards  or  averages  for  the  out- 
put of  the  average  worker. 

A  third  reason  for  restricting  output  is  interesting  but  of 
relatively  slight  practical  importance.  The  regulations  of 
the  Maine  Lobster  Catchers'  Union  forbid  the  capture  of 
lobsters  under  ten  and  one-half  inches  in  length.  Such  a 
restriction  was  first  made  through  legislative  action,  but  it 
was  not  well  enforced.  Finally,  the  lobster  catchers  realized 
that  restrictive  action  was  necessary  to  save  the  industry 
from  destruction.  A  union  was  organized;  and  this  restric- 
tive measure  enforced.  The  output  for  a  given  season  is 
reduced  or  restricted  in  order  that  the  business  may  continue 
year  after  year.  ''No  criticism  is  heard  from  the  public  as 
long  as  the  output  is  limited  to  save  this  fish  product  from 

*  Martin,  "Do  Trade  Unions  Limit  Output?"  Political  Science  Quarterly, 
Vol.  17:  371. 


GOVERNMENT  AND   POLICIES 


149 


utter  annihilation,  but  when  the  health  of  the  worker  is  at 
stake  in  other  industries,  there  seems  to  be  little  sympathy 
with  any  limitation  than  that  which  the  capacity  of  a  skilled 
'pacemaker'  demonstrates."  ^ 

Hours  of  Labor.  One  of  the  most  familiar  and  insistent 
demands  of  organized  labor  has  been  for  a  shorter  workmg 
day.  A  century  ago  the  average  length  of  the  working  day 
may  be  conservatively  estimated  to  have  been  twelve  hours. 
In  cotton  factories  as  late  as  the  decade  of  the  forties  the 
working  day  was  over  twelve  hours  in  length.  Not  until 
after  1880  was  the  normal  working  day  in  breweries  reduced 
below  fourteen  hours.  "In  1886,  with  the  exception  of  two 
establishments,  every  ton  of  pig-iron  produced  in  the  world 
was  made  by  men  working  twelve  hours  per  day  and  seven 
days  per  week."  ^  An  eight-hour  day  has  been  very  generally 
obtained  in  hazardous  and  unhealthful  occupations,  such  as 
mining,  and  in  certain  occupations  in  which  the  trade  unions 
are  very  powerful,  such  as  the  building  trades  and  the  print- 
ing trades.  In  the  clothing  industry,  the  forty-four  hour 
week  has  been  quite  generally  obtained  by  the  organized 
workers.  The  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  after  investigating 
the  hours  of  labor  in  four  thousand  manufacturing  estab- 
lishments in  the  United  States  found  that  the  average  number 
of  hours  worked  per  week  declined  from  1890  to  1907  in  the 
ratio  of  100.7  ^^  95 -o-  ^  \2d,er  investigation  recorded  a 
further  decline  from  1907  to  1918  in  the  ratio  of  103  to  97. 
The  later  investigation  presents  the  relative  decline  in  certain 
organized  trades  from  1907  to  191 8.  For  bakers,  the  relative 
hours  are  reduced  in  the  ratio  of  11 1  in  1907  to  96  in  1918; 
bricklayers,  102  to  99;  coremakers,  103  to  98;  blacksmiths, 
103  to  94;  press  feeders,  112  to  100.^  War- time  prosperity 
was  responsible  for  a  considerable  increase  in  the  number  of 

^  Carnegie,  The  Forum .     \o\.  i,  p.  544. 

2  Bulletin  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.     Xos.  77  and  259. 


I, 


150    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

eight-hour  workers.  Many  employers  doubtless  feeling  that 
the  eight-hour  day  was  coming  took  the  initiative  themselves. 
In  the  ten  months  preceding  April  i,  1916,  "nearly  100,000 
men  and  women  have  won  the  eight-hour  day  in  the  United 
States.'*  ^ 

During  the  last  century  the  productive  powers  of  man  were 
multiplied  many  times  because  of  the  use  of  the  energy  of  coal 
and  water  through  the  agency  of  steam  and  electricity;  and  the 
total  quantity  of  human  labor  necessary  for  the  same  amount 
of  production  was  correspondingly  diminished.  As  a  conse- 
quence the  human  race  has  been  lifted  from  a  condition  of 
struggle  for  the  necessities  of  life  to  a  plane  where  comforts 
seem  possible  for  all.  The  wage  earners  insist  that  they  should 
share  in  the  benefits  derived  from  the  use  of  natural  forces 
and  machinery,  by  receiving  higher  wages  and  by  shortening 
the  working  day.  Increased  efficiency  in  production  should 
allow  wage  earners  to  raise  their  standard  of  living;  but  long 
hours  of  labor  in  factory  and  shop  have  in  the  past  been 
accompanied  by  low  standards  of  living.  Indeed,  the  funda- 
mental purpose  of  the  labor  movement  is  to  enable  the  wage 
earners  to  take  a  portion  of  the  material  and  immaterial 
benefits  accruing  to  society  as  the  result  of  industrial 
advance. 

Labor  leaders  are  practically  unanimous  in  emphasizing 
the  importance  of  a  shorter  working  day.  In  arguing  for  the 
eight-hour  day  the  theory  is  frequently  advanced  that  wages 
depend  upon  the  standard  of  living  of  the  wage  earners.  In 
this  contention  they  have  the  support  of  very  respectable 
authority.  Ricardo  pointed  out  that  the  "natural  price  of 
labor  varies  at  different  times  in  the  same  country,  and  very 
materially  differs  in  different  countries.  It  essentially  de- 
pends on  the  habits  and  customs  of  the  people."  The  argu- 
ment continues  with  the  statement  that  increased  wants  are 

*  The  Survey,  April  i,  1916. 


GOVERNMENT  AND  POLICIES 


151 


the  result  of  more  time  for  leisure;  and,  hence,  a  shorter  work- 
ing day  by  raising  the  standard  of  living  will  increase  wages. 
As  a  matter  of  experience,  shortening  the  working  day  has 
proven  one  of  the  best  means  of  raising  wages;  and  when  a 
shorter  working  day  is  once  obtained  it  is  rarely  lengthened. 
The  man  who  has  been  receiving  $2.50  for  a  ten-hour  day  will 
not  be  content  with  $2.25  for  a  nine-hour  day;  through  his 
organization  he  will  demand  an  increase  in  the  rate  per  day. 
Wages  are  paid  out  of  the  gross  earnings  of  business  estab- 
Hshments.  Unless  shortening  the  working  day  actually  in- 
creases productivity,  the  increased  wage  can  only  be  paid  by 
deducting  it  from  profits,  rent,  interest,  or  monopoly  gains. 
An  expanded  and  modified  lump-of-work  argument  is  also 
advanced  by  the  trade  unionists  in  support  of  their  demand 
for  shorter  working  days.  The  familiar  and  oft-quoted 
rhyme  illustrates  the  point: 

''Whether  you  work  by  the  piece  or  work  by  the  day, 
Decreasing  the  hours  increases  the  pay. " 
With  a  shorter  working  day,  it  is  urged,  more  workers  would 
be  required  and  more  machinery  would  be  used.  Higher 
wages  and  the  increase  in  the  number  of  wage  earners  required 
would  in  turn  increase  the  demand  for  the  products  of  indus- 
try. Mr.  McNeill  puts  the  argument  in  a  pointed  way. 
"  The  larger  the  demand  the  larger  will  be  the  means  of  supply; 
the  demand  determines  the  amount  produced,  the  market 
determines  the  demand,  and  the  conditions  of  the  people 
determine  the  market. "  ^  While  this  argument  may  not  be 
without  serious  fallacies,  an  increase  in  wages  and  a  stimula- 
tion of  wants  among  the  wage  earners  does  swell  the  demand 
for  goods  and  does  lead  to  an  expansion  of  the  industries 
providing  the  comforts  and  necessities  of  life.  Tropical 
countries  do  not  offer  excellent  markets  for  the  manufactured 

*  (Pamphlet)  The  Eight-Hour  Primer,  p.  15.     See  also  Ira  Steward's  argu* 
ment,  Chapter  IV. 


u 


152    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

goods   of   the   temperate  zones  because  the  working  classes 
have  few  wants  and  receive  very  low  wages. 

It  is  frequently  urged  and  apparently  proven  by  statistics 
that  up  to  the  present  time  the  reduction  in  the  length  of  the 
working  day  has  not  diminished  the  volume  of  production. 
The  shorter  working  day  means  increased  rapidity  of  action. 
The  validity  of  this  argument  depends  upon  the'  amount  of 
reduction  in  the  working  day  and  upon  the  nature  of  the 
industry    concerned.     If   a   reduction    from    twelve    to    ten 
hours  or  from  ten  to  eight  hours  does  not  diminish  the  daily 
output  of  the  average  wage  earner,  would  not  a  further  re- 
duction lead  to  a  diminution  in  the  daily  output  per  em- 
ployee? .  In  those  industries  in  which  alertness  and  skill  are 
required  of  the  workers,  and  in  which  the  worker  is  constantly 
subjected  to  mental  or  physical  strain,  shortening  the  working 
day  to  ten,  nine,  or  eight  hours  often  increases  the  output 
per  worker.     Some  of  the  testimony  before  the   Industrial 
Commission  was  to  the  effect  that  men  working  eight  or  nine 
hours  produced  as  much  as  those  working  for  a  longer  period 
each  day. 

The  Solvay  Process  Company,  of  Syracuse,  in  1892  adopted 
a  system  of  eight-hour  shifts  in  the  place  of  eleven  and  thir- 
teen hours.     In  1905  the  president  of  the  company  stated 
that  the  efficiency  of  the  men  was  increased,  the  time  per 
unit  of  product  reduced,  and  the  days  lost  per  man  because 
of  sickness  diminished.     In  1891  the  Zeiss  optical  factory, 
located  at  Jena,  reduced  the  working  day  to  nine  hours;  and 
in  1900  a  further  reduction  to  eight  hours  was  allowed.     The 
manager  after  a  careful  investigation  found  that  the  reduc- 
tion in  time  led  to  an  increase  in  the  total  output.     The 
Salford    Iron    Works,    of   Manchester,   England,   employing 
about    1200  men,  in  1893,  as  an  experiment,  reduced  the 
hours  per  week  from  53  to  48.     As  the  result  of  this  experi- 
ment,  the  48-hour  week  was  made  permanent. 


GOVERNMENT  AND   POLICIES 


153 


The  introduction  of  the  eight-hour  day  by  the  bituminous 
coal  miners  in  1897  and  into  the  anthracite  field  in  1916  re- 
sulted in  an  increase  in  output  per  miner  per  day.     A  firm 
manufacturing  shoes  and  employing  over  4,000  men  volun- 
tarily reduced  the  hours  per  week  from  55  to  52,  beginning 
December,  1916.  The  results  were  reported  as  follows:  October 
and  November,  19 16,  under  the  5  5 -hour  week,  the  output  per 
production  unit  per  man  was  8.91;  December,  1916,  and  Jan- 
uary, 1917,  under  the  52-hour  week,  the  output  was  9.00;  and 
in  February  and  March,  191 7,  9.02.     The  company  declares: 
"Our   whole  experience  tends   to  justify   the  shorter-hours 
movement.      We  are  absolutely  convinced  that  it  is  right  for 
the  community  as  a  whole,  because  we  feel  sure  it  would  in- 
crease the  net  productivity  of  society.     We  believe  it  is  right 
for  the  individual  factory  unit  because  we  have  come  to  realize 
that  even  in  an  individual  plant  the  real  problem  is  to  get  the 
maximum  amount  of  work  done  by  a  given  thousand  people, 
not  in  a  day,  in  a  week,  or  in  a  year,  but  in  a  lifetime.''  * 

The  United  States  Public  Health  Service  after  a  study  of  an 
eight  and  a  lo-hour  plant,  reached  conclusions  favorable  to 
the  8-hour  day.  The  outstanding  feature  of  the  8-hour 
system  is  steady  maintenance  of  output;  of  the  lo-hour 
system,  decline  of  output,  "  Under  the  8-hour  system  work 
with  almost  full  power  begins  and  ends  approximately  on 
schedule,  and  lost  time  is  reduced  to  a  minimum.  Under  the 
lo-hour  system  work  ceases  regularly  before  the  end  of  the 
spell  and  lost  time  is  frequent."  The  increase  noted  in  many 
industries  following  a  redu(;tion  from  a  10-  or  12 -hour  day  to  a 
shorter  working  day,  does  not  necessarily  prove  that  the  men 
were  overworked.  It  may  be  largely  a  matter  of  willingness 
to  work.  Satisfaction  and  contentment  are  important  factors 
making  for  the  greater  efficiency  of  the  short  working  day .2 

^  The  Survey,  May  12,  191 7;   The  New  Republic,  June  9,  1917. 
*  Slichter,  The  Turnover  of  Factory  Labor,  pp.  257  ff. 


f 


154    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

On  the  other  hand,  in  industries  in  which  machinery  sets 
the  pace  and  in  which  the  work  is  chiefly  of  a  routine  charac- 
ter, the  reduction  of  the  working  day  causes  a  reduction  in  the 
daily  output  per  wage  earner.  As  an  offset  to  this  statement, 
it  may  be  said  that  the  long  working  day  increases  the  number 
of  accidents  and  the  amount  of  spoiled  work,  and  causes  the 
worker  to  be  less  diligent  in  tending  his  machine.  Machinery 
cannot  be  operated  at  a  higher  speed  for  eight  hours  than  for 
ten  or  twelve.  In  short,  there  is  an  ''optimum"  for  each 
worker  and  each  industry,  "  that  is,  a  minimum  time  of  labor 
resulting  in  the  largest  output." 

The  most  convincing  argument  in  favor  of  a  short  working 
day  emphasizes  its  social  value.  The  long  working  day,  par- 
ticularly when  the  work  is  speciaUzed  and  the  strain  intense, 
tends  to  weaken,  degrade,  and  brutalize;  the  short  working 
day  tends  to  improve  the  health  of  the  workers,  to  reduce  the 
amount  of  intemperance  and  dissipation,  to  uplift  the  worker 
and  his  family  by  giving  the  former  time  for  rational  enjoy- 
ment and  for  family  and  civic  duties,  and  to  improve  the 
stamina  of  the  race.  ''The  first  school  of  morals,  family  life, 
is  a  closed  book  against  the  man  who  only  comes  home  dead 
tired  late  at  night. "  ^  The  man  who  works  in  shop  or  fac- 
tory twelve  hours  daily  cannot  take  an  intelligent  interest  in 
political  affairs  or  in  trade-union  policies.  In  former  centuries 
leisure  and  culture  were  the  birthright  of  the  few;  but  a  cen- 
tury of  marvelous  technical  advance  places  these  among  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  the  masses.  The  demand  for  a  shorter 
working  day  is  an  important  factor  in  the  movement  toward 
better  conditions  for  the  masses,  for  those  who  have  hitherto 
had  little  opportunity  for  anything  except  hard  and  almost 
continuous  toil. 

The  temporary  effect  of  the  sudden  reduction  of  the  length 
of  the  working  day  may  be  very  different  from  the  permanent 

*  Schulze-Gaevernitz,  Social  Peace,  p.  124. 


GOVERNMENT  AND   POLICIES 


15s 


results.  The  temporary  effects  may  often  be  evil.  Some 
adult  workers  suddenly  released  from  work  two  or  three 
extra  hours  each  day  may  waste  the  time  in  ways  which  cause 
physical,  mental,  and  moral  deterioration.  But  in  the  long 
run  and  with  the  incoming  generation,  these  temporary  evil 
effects  will,  in  a  large  measure,  disappear,  and  better  use  will 
be  made  of  the  increased  amount  of  leisure  time.  Improve- 
ment in  the  habits,  manners,  and  customs  of  the  mass  of 
society  is  a  matter  of  slow  growth  even  under  the  most  favor- 
able circumstances.  An  eight-hour  day  for  all  manual  work- 
ers is  not  a  cure-all  for  the  social  ills  which  afflict  humanity; 
"  but  if  it  secures  for  millions  of  tired  workers  an  hour  or  two 
of  leisure  which  otherwise  would  have  been  spent  in  toil;  if  it 
enables  many  who  otherwise  would  have  plodded  the  daily 
round  of  monotonous  labor  to  obtain  access  to  some  share  in 
that  larger  life  from  which  they  are  now  relentlessly  excluded; 
if  it  protects  the  future  generations  of  the  race  from  physical 
degeneration  or  mental  decay;  if  it  makes  brighter  the  lives  of 
those  who  have  toiled  that  a  small  class  among  us  might  have 
education  and  holidays  and  culture;  if  it  accomplishes  only 
partially  some  of  these  great  ends,"  it  "wiU  be  no  mean  ac- 
complishment. "  ^ 

The  increasing  stress  and  nervous  strain  required  in  modem 
industry  coupled  with  increased  specialization  make  the 
necessity  for  leisure  time  imperative.  At  the  time  when 
improved  means  of  communication  and  of  transportation, 
the  enlargement  of  the  market  area,  and  the  growing  intricacy 
of  social  and  political  affairs  demand  a  broad  view  of  the 
world  and  its  activities;  occupations  and  trades  have  been  so 
specialized  and  subdivided  that  the  life  of  the  average  wage 
earner  is  cramped.  The  wage  earner's  daily  work  and  home 
environment  tend  to  contract  and  astigmatize  his  view  at  the 
time  when  peoples  and  nations  have  been  brought  into  close 

^  Webb  and  Cox,  The  Eight  Hours  Day,  p.  11. 


■ 


156     HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

contact  with  each  other.  The  disadvantages  caused  by  this 
grim  paradox  can  be  diminished  by  an  increase  in  the  amount 
of  leisure  time  allowed  routine  workers,  by  an  improvement 
in  educational  facilities  and  methods,  and  by  enlarged  oppor- 
tunity for  healthful  amusements. 

Limitation  of  Apprentices.    The  rapid  industrial  changes 
of  recent  decades  and  the  disappearance  of  many  old  handi- 
crafts, and  the  appearance  of  many  new  and  not  well-defined 
trades,  have  made  the  apprenticeship  question  one  of  great 
practical  importance.  *    At  the  present  time,  the  apprentice 
is  rarely  able  to  learn  his  trade  from  a  journeyman  or  a  master 
workman  who  is  skilled  in  all  the  branches  of  the  work  of  his 
craft.     Subdivision  of  labor  has  reduced  the  demand  for  all- 
around  men;  and  in  the  modem  shop  adequate  instruction  of 
the  apprentice  is  a  burden  for  both  the  journeyman  and  the 
employer.     The  shop  or  the  factory  exists  for  the  purpose 
of  producing  at  a  profit  an  output  of  marketable  articles;  it 
is  not,  except  in  an  incidental  and  extraneous  manner,  an 
educational  institution.     The  journeymen  and  the  foreman 
are  not  usually  skilled  teachers;  and  the  apprentice  will  in- 
evitably spoil  considerable  material  and  damage  tools  and 
machines.     There  is  no  tangible  and  immediate  identity  of  in- 
terest between  the  employer  and  the  apprentice.     The  latter 
is  interested  primarily  in  gaining  an  adequate  knowledge  of 
the  variety  of  details  connected  with  his  trade;  on  the  other 
hand,  his  employer  is  constantly  striving  under  the  pressure 
of  competition  and  the  spur  of  the  desire  for  larger  profits, 
to  reduce  the  expenses  of  production  and  to  increase  the  out- 
put of  each  worker.     If  the  employer  sacrifices  the  efficiency 
of  his  plant  in  order  to  give  young  workers  trade  education,  he 
may  be  unable  to  meet  his  competitors  on  a  plane  of  equality. 
Although  skilled  workers  may  be  urgently  demanded,  employ- 

*  A  discussion  of  the  methods  of  training  apprentices  will  be  found  in  the 
chapter  on  Trade  and  Industrial  Education. 


GOVERNMENT  AND   POLICIES 


157 


ers  are  often  unwilling  individually  to  shoulder  the  burden  as 
long  as  some  shops  refuse  to  act  as  adequate  schools  for 
apprentices  and  frequently  attract  the  young  journeymen 
from  the  shop  which  has  borne  the  expense  incidental  to  his 
period  of  apprenticeship.  ''Indeed,  there  seems  to  be  a 
growing  disinclination  to  have  apprentices. "  ^ 

In  order  that  the  apprentice  may  become  skilled  in  more 
than  one  simple  and  minute  class  of  work,  he  must  be  trans- 
ferred from  machine  to  machine  and  from  department  to 
department.  At  the  moment  when  the  apprentice  becomes 
proficient  in  any  particular  operation  he  should  be  trans- 
ferred to  some  other  job  or  department.  At  this  point, 
however,  the  immediate  considerations  of  output  lead  the 
foremen  to  desire  to  keep  the  boy  where  he  is.  Since  the 
foreman  is  naturally  more  interested  in  the  production  of 
machines  today  than  in  the  training  of  boys  who  may 
become  skilled  workers  tomorrow,  and  who  may  get  jobs 
elsewhere,  the  education  of  the  would-be  skilled  worker  is 
likely  to  suffer.  The  constant  temptation  is  to  teach  him 
a  few  simple  operations  and  to  pass  on  to  him  certain 
portions  of  the  work  hitherto  done  by  skilled  men.^  Tem- 
porarily the  employer  finds  it  advantageous  to  train  the 
young  worker  and  apprentice  for  routine  rather  than  for 
skilled  work.  When  the  latter  finally  demands  higher 
wages  he  can  be  replaced  by  another.  The  gradual  increase 
of  subdivision  of  labor  and  the  simplification  of  operations 
have  made  it  less  difficult  for  a  boy  to  learn  a  smattering  of  a 
trade,  and  more  difficult  to  learn  a  trade  thoroughly. 

These  conditions  make  it  possible  for  employers,  if  not 
restricted  by  the  enforcement  of  adequate  apprenticeship 
rules  and  of  reasonable  child  labor  laws,  to  employ  cheap  and 
unskilled  labor  while  making  a  pretense  of  training  apprentices. 

*  Eleventh  Special  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Labor  (1904),  p.  270. 

*  See  the  writer's  Education  and  Ittdusirial  Evolution,  pp.  198-200. 


il 


158    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

Consequently,  the  skilled  union  man  fears  the  improperly 
trained  apprentice  for  much  the  same  reason  that  he  fears 
the  average  immigrant  of  recent  years.  Many  imions  com- 
posed of  skilled  men  demand  that  the  number  of  apprentices 
in  a  shop  be  limited  and  that  provisions  be  made  for  adequate 
instruction.  The  length  of  apprenticeship  insisted  upon  is  usu- 
ally three  or  four  years,  instead  of  the  seven  of  the  traditional 
apprenticeship  system.  The  apprenticeship  period  usually 
begins  between  the  ages  of  fifteen  and  twenty-one  years.  The 
common  ratio  of  apprentices  to  journeymen  is  one  to  five. 
**  Except  in  the  old  handicrafts,  which  have  suffered  little 
deterioration  from  machinery  or  new  processes,  together  with 
the  building,  the  metal,  and  the  printing  trades,  no  provisions 
regarding  entrance  to  the  trade  are  usually  contained  in  the 
agreements  between  employers  and  employees."  *  Strong 
unions  in  trades  requiring  skilled  work  are  most  insistent 
upon  rules  regulating  apprenticeship. 

Only  a  comparatively  small  number  of  unions  arc  able 
effectively  to  enforce  rules  limiting  the  number  of  apprentices. 
It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  under  the  old  form  of  apprentice- 
ship, when  the  boys  lived  with  their  employer  and  were  made 
members  of  the  family,  these  conditions  imposed  limitations 
upon  the  number  apprenticed  by  each  employer.  Trade- 
union  action  was  then  superfluous.  The  chief  point  at  issue 
between  the  employer  and  the  union  touches  the  limitation 
of  the  number  allowed.  The  differences  in  regard  to  limitation 
are  not  serious  because  only  a  small  percentage  of  strikes  in 
trades  insisting  upon  enforcement  of  apprenticeship  rules 
are  covered  by  disagreements  as  to  apprentices.  In  the 
building  trades  from  1887  to  1894,  only  i.i  per  cent  were 
caused  by  such  disagreements;  in  the  printing  trades,  2.0 
per  cent;    and  in  the  glass  trades,  12.4  per  cent. 

In  favor  of  the  restriction  of  the  number  of  apprentices  in  a 

^  Bulletin  of  Bureau  of  Labor.     No.  67,  p.  765. 


GOVERNMENT  AND   POLICIES 


159 


given  trade  several  arguments  may  be  presented,  (i)  Too 
many  apprentices  are  a  nuisance  to  journeymen;  and,  conse- 
quently, apprentices  do  not  receive  adequate  attention  unless 
the  number  is  small  in  comparison  with  the  number  of  jour- 
neymen. (2)  The  limitation  of  apprentices  prevents  a  glut  in 
the  market  for  skilled  labor.  It  assists  in  securing  ''fair" 
wages  for  efficient  service.  (3)  In  the  absence  of  restrictions, 
the  tendency  on  the  part  of  many  employers  is  to  give  boys 
certain  portions  of  the  work  now  performed  by  skilled  men. 
Mature  men  may  be  displaced  and  the  wages  paid  skilled  men 
may  be  reduced.  (4)  This  policy  has  a  bad  effect  upon  the 
boys  themselves.  They  do  not  properly  learn  a  trade  and 
consequently  their  opportunities  for  advancement  are  few. 
The  improperly  trained  apprentice  always  remains  an  un- 
skilled or  semi-skilled  worker.  (5)  The  consumers  of  the 
products  are  injured  because  the  quality  of  the  output  deteri- . 
orates  with  the  influx  of  unskilled  and  poorly  paid  workers. 
(6)  In  the  manufacturing  industries,  the  sources  of  supply  of 
skilled  men  have  been  the  small  shop  and  Europe.  The 
small  shop  has  been  absorbed  by  the  big  concern;  and  the 
character  of  the  immigration  to  our  shores  has  materially 
changed  in  recent  decades.  In  the  long  run,  conditions  which 
do  not  permit  the  adequate  training  of  apprentices  are  in- 
jurious to  employers  as  a  class. 

In  opposition  to  the  artificial  limitation  of  the  nimiber  of 
apprentices,  it  may  be  observed  that  such  action  is  monopolis- 
tic in  essence.  The  limitation  of  apprentices  in  a  skilled  trade 
may  produce  a  scarcity  of  skilled  labor  in  that  trade,  and 
raise  the  wages  of  those  protected  from  competition  by  these 
artificial  dikes  above  the  normal  rate  for  work  requiring  a 
similar  amount  of  training  and  skill.  As  a  consequence,  the 
supply  of  labor  will  be  increased  in  other  trades  which  are  not 
protected  by  apprenticeship  rules,  and  the  wages  in  such 
occupations  will  tend  to  be  reduced,  and  the  amount  of  unem- 


h 


160    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

ployment  will  also  be  increased.  Some  youths  who  are  well 
fitted  to  become  highly  proficient  in  a  given  trade  may  be 
excluded  to  their  detriment  and  to  the  detriment  of  society 
as  well.  The  Webbs  are  emphatic  in  their  assertion  that  the 
whole  apprenticeship  system  with  its  limitation  of  numbers 
is  "undemocratic  in  its  scope,  unscientific  in  its  educa- 
tional methods,  and  fundamentally  unsound  in  its  financial 
aspects."^  Too  rigid  restriction  of  numbers  is  likely  to 
defeat  the  purpose  of  such  restriction.  If  wages  are  unduly 
raised,  many  will  be  attracted  toward  that  trade  and  will 
learn  it  under  non-union  or  anti-union  supervision. 

In  view  of  the  long-continued  controversy  over  the  limi- 
tation of  apprentices,  it  is  fitting  to  inquire  as  to  the  ratio 
between  apprentices  and  journeymen  which  will  maintain  a 
supply  approximately  equal  to  the  demand  for  skilled  men. 
.  Without  going  into  the  intricacies  of  the  question,  one  rough 
but  fairly  adequate  test  may  easily  be  applied  by  comparing 
the  number  of  males  in  the  Ignited  States  of  apprenticeship 
age  with  the  total  number  of  males  of  journeyman  age.  The 
age  of  apprenticeship  may  be  taken  to  be  from  sixteen  to 
nineteen  years  inclusive.  According  to  the  census  of  1900, 
there  were  2,981,065  males  of  these  ages  in  this  country.  If 
the  journeyman  age  is  considered  to  be  from  twenty  to  thirty- 
nine  years  inclusive,  there  were  12,466,309  males  in  this  group. 
If  the  journeyman  age  be  held  to  extend  from  twenty  to  forty- 
four  years  inclusive,  the  number  is  increased  to  14,722,225. 
The  ratio  of  the  males  sixteen  to  nineteen  years  of  age  to  those 
twenty  to  thirty-nine  years  of  age  is  about  1 14.18;  in  the  latter 
case  the  ratio  is  approximately  i  :4.93.  This  rough  and  easily 
criticised  method  indicates  that  the  ratio  of  apprentices  to 
journeymen  should  be  at  least  one  to  five.  If  allowance  be 
made  for  probable  growth  in  the  industry,  it  seems  reasonable 
that  a  ratio  of  one  to  four  and  one-half  would  not  be  excess- 

*  See  also  Report  of  Industrial  Commission.  Vol.  8  :  LXXX-LXXXI. 


GO\'ERNMENT  AND   POLICIES 


161 


ive,  and  would  not  lead  to  an  over-supply  of  apprentices  in 
any  industry.^ 

Incorporation  of  Labor  Organizations.  The  legal  status  of 
labor  organizations  is  not  well  defined.  In  most  states  labor 
unions  may  be  considered  to  be  voluntary  associations.  In 
some  states  the  incorporation  of  labor  organizations  is  author- 
ized; the  federal  government  has  also  legalized  the  incorpora- 
tion of  national  unions.  Employers  have  frequently  urged 
the  incorporation  of  labor  organizations  on  the  ground  that 
the  responsibility  of  the  unions  for  the  fulfilment  of  contract 
would  be  increased.  Labor  leaders  usually  oppose  incorpora- 
tion on  the  ground  that  their  funds  would  be  subject  to  con- 
tinual attacks  in  the  courts  in  case  of  a  labor  dispute.  In 
the  event  of  a  strike  the  funds  of  the  union  might  also  be 
tied  up  by  an  injunction.  Such  action  would  cripple  the 
union  and  might  practically  end  the  struggle.  The  Massa- 
chusetts Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor  in  1906  found  as  the 
result  of  a  questionnaire  that  42  out  of  53  labor  leaders  replying 
believed  that  the  incorporation  of  trade  unions  would  *^be 
inimical  to  their  interests."  The  remaining  eleven  replied 
that  in  their  judgment  it  would  not  be  inimical.  Of  the 
employers  questioned  only  twelve  agreed  with  the  majority 
of  the  labor  leaders;  and  thirty  agreed  with  the  minority. 

However,  the  court  in  the  famous  English  decision  in  what 
is  known  as  the  Taff  Vale  Case  ordered  an  unincorporated 
union  to  be  penalized  because  its  officers  and  members  were 
adjudged  guilty  of  persuading  workmen  to  break  their  contract 
and  for  encouraging  acts  of  violence  against  the  complainant, — 
the  Taff  Vale  Railway  Company.  In  1906  a  Trades  Dispute 
Act  was  passed  by  the  English  Parliament  to  remove  the 
effect  of  the  Taff  Vale  decision.  It  amended  the  law  of  con- 
spiracy in  case  of  labor  disputes  so  that  acts  performed  by 
a  combination  of  persons  are  not  actionable  if  they  are  no^t 

''  See  article  by  the  writer,  Cassier's  Magazine,  .\pril,  1905. 


if 


I 


(1 
5  i 


i 


1 


it 


162     HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

actionable  when  performed  by  one  person.  Peaceful  picket- 
ing was  legalized  and  an  action  against  a  trade  union,  its 
officials,  or  members  in  respect  to  any  tortious  act  committed 
in  behalf  of  the  trade  union  shall  not  be  entertained.  In  the 
Danbury  Hatters'  Case,  an  un-incorporated  union,  the  United 
Hatters  of  America  was  adjudged  guilty  of  being  a  combina- 
tion in  restraint  of  trade  and  was  fined  $252,000  under  the 
provisions  of  the  Sherman  anti-trust  law.  Labor  leaders 
iearing  further  assaults  upon  union  treasuries  in  the  event 
of  strikes  or  boycotts,  demanded  that  Congress  pass  a  law 
specifically  exempting  labor  organizations  from  the  penalties 
of  the  anti-trust  law.  The  Clayton  Act  of  1914  was  sup- 
posed, probably  incorrectly,  to  furnish  such  exemptions. 
Acting  under  a  war  emergency  act,  the  strike  funds  of  the 
United  Mine  Workers  were  tied  up  by  a  federal  judge  during 

the  coal  strike  of  1919- 
Benefit  Features.    Among  English  labor  organizations  bene- 
'  fit  features  are  of  greater  importance  than  among  American 
unions.     Before  unions  were  legalized  in  England  in  1824, 
many  unions  actually  existed  under  the  guise  of  benefit  asso- 
ciations.    Several   reasons   may  be  given   for   the  greater 
prominence    of    these    features    in  England.     The    English 
organizations  are  older;  they  are  more  closely  united;  English 
unions  are  trade  unions,  not  industrial  unions,  and  therefore 
only  contain  men  having  approximately  the  same  skill  and 
income;    the  membership  of  the  English  unions  include  few 
who  are  not  of  English  birth  and  descent;   the  mobility  of 
labor  is  not  as  great  as  in  this  country;  insurance  against  sick- 
ness and  unemployment  did  not  appear  particularly  desirable 
to  the  workers  in  a  new  country  of  great  possibilities  and  rich 
in  undeveloped  resources;  and  the  militant  activities  of  Ameri- 
can unions  have  been  more  important  and  absorbing  than  in 
the  case  of  English  unions.     In  recent  years,  American  unions 
are  laying  more  and  more  stress  upon  benefit  features.    In  a 


GOVERNMENT  AND   POLICIES 


163 


country  like  Germany,  where  insurance  against  accident, 
sickness,  and  old  age  is  compulsory,  it  is  not  necessary  for 
unions  to  emphasize  this  form  of  activity. 

In  the  year  1901  the  income  of  one  hundred  "principal 
trade  unions  of  the  United  Kingdom"  was  $10,032,295.  The 
total  expenditures  for  the  year  were  $8,057,147.  This  was 
divided  among  the  following  items:  —  unemployed,  travel- 
ing, and  emigration  benefits,  $1,585,827;  dispute  benefits, 
$995,282;  sick  and  accident  benefits,  $1,678,135;  superannu- 
ated benefits,  $987,666 ;  funeral  benefits,  $480,883 ;  other  bene- 
fits and  grants  to  members,  $177,476;  payments  to  Federations, 
grants  to  other  societies,  etc.,  $308,224;  working  and  other 
expenses,  $1,843,654.  Over  one-half  of  the  expenditures  of 
these  organizations  were  spent  on  benefits  other  than  strike 
benefits.  From  1892  to  1901  inclusive,  the  one  hundred 
organizations  contributed  nearly  eighteen  per  cent  of  their 
total  expenditures  to  the  payment  of  sick  and  accident  bene- 
fits. During  the  same  period  the  printing  trades  utilized 
nearly  one-half  of  their  expenditures  in  the  payment  of  un- 
employed benefits. 

The  Cigar  Makers'  International  Union  has  been  called 
"the  beneficiary  organization  of  the  United  States."  Its 
system  is  not  as  complete,  however,  as  those  maintained  by 
some  English  unions.  This  union  pays  strike,  sick,  death, 
traveling  and  unemployment  benefits.  In  19 13,  the  benefits 
paid  by  American  unions,  including  the  sums  spent  in  Canada 
by  international  unions,  amounted  to  over  $14,000,000,  of 
which  $6,500,000  were  paid  by  organizations  belonging  to 
the  American  Federation  of  Labor.  Death  benefits  amounted 
to  nearly  $9,000,000;  strike  benefits  to  nearly  $3,500,000; 
and  sickness  and  disability  benefits  to  almost  $1,400,000. 
The  other  kinds  of  benefits  were  traveling,  unemployment, 
old-age  and  tool  insurance.^    In   1918-1919,   the  national 

*  Bulletin,  No.  67,  New  York  Department  of  Labor. 


ii 


164    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

unions  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  paid  over 
$5,000,000  in  death  benefits.  With  few  exceptions  such  as 
the  railway  brotherhoods,  the  death  benefits  paid  by  American 
unions  are  small.  The  International  Holders'  Union  and 
the  Cigar  Makers'  Union  were  the  only  national  bodies  which 
paid  (1919)  over  $1 ,000  to  their  unemployed  members.  Some 
unions  remit  the  payment  of  dues  in  case  of  unemployment, 
and  a  few  pay  traveling  benefits  to  the  members  who  wish  to 
seek  work  in  some  other  place.  In  nearly  all  unions,  benefit 
funds  are  not  kept  separate  from  other  funds  in  the  treasury. 
A  large  fund  which  has  been  accumulated  ostensibly  for 
insurance  purposes  can  be  used  for  coercive  activities.  In 
this  way  an  aggressive  union  may  be  furnished  a  powerful 

weapon. 

An  unique  form  of  union  benefits  is  the  marriage  dowry  of 
the  National  Federation  of  Woman  Workers,  a  British  organ- 
ization. If  a  woman  has  paid  her  union  dues  for  several 
years  and  has  received  no  direct  benefits  from  the  organiza- 
tion, she  naturally  feels  that  she  ought  to  receive  some  kind 
of  a  bonus  when  she  marries  and  leaves  the  union.  Such  a 
provision  will  also  encourage  young  women  to  join  a  union. 
The  provision  in  the  constitution  of  the  Federation  reads 
thus:  —  "In  the  event  of  the  marriage  of  a  member,  if  she 
has  been  a  full  member  for  two  years,  and  has  not  received 
out-of-employment  or  sick  benefit  during  the  period  of  her 
membership,  the  central  council  shall  refund  50  per  cent  of 
the  amount  of  her  contributions,  providing  she  is  leaving 
her  trade  and  terminating  her  membership."  The  mar- 
riage dowry  has  been  proposed  for  the  women  workers  in 
American  unions;  but  it  will  probably  be  necessary  to  bal- 
ance it  by  some  pension  scheme  for  old  and  unmarried 
women  workers. 

The  effects  of  the  benefit  system  upon  labor  organizations 
may  be  summarized  as  follows:    (i)  It  tends  to  increase  the 


GOVERNMENT  AND  POLICIES 


16:; 


membership  and  to  make  it  more  stable.  The  direct  and 
visible  flow  of  benefits  stimulates  loyalty  to  the  organization. 
(2)  The  national  body  is  strengthened.  (3)  Unions  having 
large  benefit  funds  in  their  treasury  are  more  conservative 
than  those  having  an  empty  treasury;  although  the  presence 
of  fimds  increases  the  probability  of  successful  aggressive 
action,  the  union  without  funds,  like  the  man  without  proper- 
erty,  is  predisposed  to  radical  action.  (4)  The  disciplinary 
power  of  the  union  over  its  members  is  strengthened  by  the 
use  of  benefit  features.  A  member  of  a  local  union  will  not 
withdraw  upon  slight  provocation  and  thus  lose  the  right  to 
receive  valuable  benefits.  (5)  The  payment  of  large  benefits 
has  been  a  feature  of  trade  unions  rather  than  of  industrial 
unions.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  greater  difficulties 
will  be  encountered  in  working  out  a  successful  system  for  an 
industrial  union  in  which  are  united  men  of  varying  skill  and 
intelligence,  and  of  different  nationalities.  The  benefit  sys- 
tem of  the  trade  unions  may  tend,  therefore,  to  emphasize 
trade  demarcations,  to  increase  jurisdictional  disputes,  and 
to  delay  the  amalgamation  of  labor  into  a  strong  coherent 
centralized  body.  (6)  The  English  unions  use  the  out-of- 
work  benefits  as  a  means  of  controlling  the  labor  market  within 
a  particular  trade.  A  skilled  worker  who  is  receiving  an  out- 
of-work  benefit  will  not  be  sorely  tempted  to  take  a  job  at  a 
rate  below  the  standard  wage.  This  policy  would  have  little 
prospect  of  success  in  the  case  of  unskilled  occupations. 

In  estimating  the  probable  development  of  benefit  features 
among  American  labor  organizations,  three  points  must  be 
kept  in  the  foreground:  {a)  The  establishment  of  a  system 
of  workingmen*s  insurance  through  governmental  action  or 
mandate  would  prevent,  or  modify  in  a  considerable  degree, 
the  course  of  further  expression  of  the  benefit  features  of  such 
organizations,  (b)  If  industrial  unionism  increases  relatively 
to  trade  unionism,  the  extension  of  the  benefit  system  will 


11':. 


m 


1 66    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

probably  be  retarded,  (c)  As  a  consequence  of  the  decision 
in  the  Hatters'  Case,  unless  legislation  similar  to  the  English 
Trades'  Dispute  Act  is  passed,  unions  having  full  treasuries 
may  fear  legal  attacks  upon  their  funds  in  case  of  a  labor  dis- 
pute. Consequently,  aggressive  unions  may  deem  it  unwise 
to  develop  an  important  system  of  union  benefits. 


REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

Report  of  Industrial  Commission.     Vols.  17  and  19:  723~9S5« 

Adams  and  Sumner,  Labor  Problems.     Ch.  7. 

Portenar,  Problems  of  Organized  Labor. 

Groat,  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Organized  Labor. 

Government 

Hollander  and  Barnett,  Studies  in  American  Trade  Unionism.  Chs.  2 
and  3. 

Mitchell,  Organized  Labor.     Ch.  10. 

Commons,  Trade  Unionism  and  Labor  Problems.     Ch.  2. 

Webb,  Industrial  Democracy.     Pt.  I,  Chs.  2  and  3. 

Report  of  the  Industrial  Commission.    Vol.17:  xix-xxxm. 

Whitney,  Jurisdiction  in  American  Building  Trades  Unions.  Johns 
Hopkins  University  Studies. 

Disputes  Between  Unions 

Mitchell,  Organized  Labor.     Ch.  31. 

Webb,  Industrial  Democracy.     Pt.  I,  Ch.  4. 

Report  of  the  Industrial  Commission.     Vol.  17:  lxix-lxxiv. 

Introduction  of  Machinery 
Bamctt,  "Introduction  of  the  Linotype,"   Yale  Review.    Vol.   13: 

251-273- 

Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor.    No.  67 ,  pp.  73 1-743 • 

Hadley J  Economics.     Ch.  11. 

White.  "Machinery  and  Labor,"  Annals  of  American  Academy  of 
Political  and  Social  Science.    Vol.  20:  223-331. 

Barnett,  "The  Stone  Cutters  and  the  Stone  Planer,"  Journal  of 
Political  Economy.    Vol.  24.     (1916.) 


GOVERNMENT  AND   POLICIES 


167 


1 


Collective  Bargaining 

Webb,  In  sirial  Democracy.  Pt.  2  Chs  2  and  5.  Pt.  3,  Ch.  13 
(section  b). 

Hollander  and  Barnett,  Studies  in  American  Trade  Unionism.     Ch.  5. 

The  Closed  Shop 

Commons,  "Causes  of  the  Union-Shop  Policy,"  Publications  of  the 
American  Economic  Association.     1905.     3d  seres.  Vol.  6:  140-159. 

Marks,  The  Independent,  May  26,  1910. 

Stockton,  "Methods  of  Enforcement,"  Johns  Hopkins  University 
Circular.    No.  224.    April,  19 10. 

Bullock,    "The    Closed    Shop,"    Atlantic   Monthly,   October,    1904, 

PP-  433-439- 

Bascom,  "An  Open  versus  a  Closed  Shop,"  North  American  Review^ 

June,  1905. 

Stockton,  The  Closed  Shop  in  American  Trade  Unions.  Johns  Hop- 
kins University  Studies. 

Groat,  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Organized  Labor.    Chs.  16  and  17. 

Darrow,  American  Magazine,  September,  191 1. 

Hoagland,  American  Economic  Review,  December,  1918.    Vol.  8. 

Restriction  of  Output 

Eleventh  Special  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Labor  (1904). 

Mitchell,  Organized  Labor.     Ch.  29. 

Groat,  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Organized  Labor.    Ch.  19. 

Length  of  the  Working  Day 

Report  of  the  Industrial  Commission.    Vol.19:  763-793. 
M.\\,cht\\^  Organized  Labor.     Ch.  15. 

Report  on  the  Cost  of  Living.     Massachusetts,  1910.     Pp.  438-474. 
Bolen,  Getting  A  Living.     Ch.  15. 

McVey,  "Social  Effect  of  the  Eight-Hour  Day,"  American  Journal  of 
Sociology.    Vol.  8:  521-530. 

Limitation  of  Apprentices 

Motley,  "Apprenticeship  in  American  Trade  Unions,"  Johns  Hopkins 
University  Studies.     Twenty-fifth  Series. 
Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor.    No.  67. 


1 


■ 


I'M 


11 


V  1 


1 68    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

Webb,  Industrial  Democracy.    Pt.  2,  Ch.  lo. 

Hollander  and  Barnett,  Studies  in  American  Trade  Unionism.     Ch.  9. 

Carlton,  "The  Apprenticeship  Question  in  America,"  Gassier' s  Maga- 
zine.    Vol.  27:  499-501. 

Mitchell,  Organized  Labor.     Ch.  30. 

Wright,  "The  Apprenticeship  System  in  its  Relation  to  Industrial 
Education,"  Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Education.     Whole  No.  389. 

Stephens,  "The  New  Apprenticeship,"  Journal  of  Political  Economy, 
Vol.  19:  17-35. 

Documentary  History  of  American  Industrial  Society.  Vol.  5:  67-74. 
"Apprenticeship,  1820-1840." 

Ack worth.  The  Helper  and  American  Trade  Unions.  Johns  Hopkins 
University  Studies. 

Benefit  Features 

Twenty-third  Annual  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Labor  (1909). 

Weyl,  "Benefit  P'eatures  of  British  Trade  Unions,"  Bulletin  of  the 
Bureau  of  Labor.    No.  64. 

Webb,  Industrial  Democracy.    Pt.  2,  Ch.  i. 

Commons,  Trade  Unionism  and  Labor  Problems.     Ch.  24. 

Hollander  and  Barnett,  Studies  in  American  Trcuie  Unionism.     Ch.  11. 

Groat,  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Organized  Labor.     Ch.  20. 

Kennedy,  Beneficiary  Features  of  American  Trade  Unions.  Johns 
Hopkins  University  Studies. 

"Trade  Union  Disability  Funds,"  Monthly  Labor  Review,  August, 
1917,  pp.  17-36. 


i  I 


.i 


CHAPTER  VII 

COERCIVE    METHODS 

Strikes  and  Lockouts.  A  "strike,"  according  to  the  defi-  \ 
nition  given  by  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor,  "is  a 
concerted  withdrawal  from  work  by  a  part  or  all  of  the  em- 
ployees of  an  establishment,  or  several  establishments,  to 
enforce  a  demand  on  the  part  of  the  employees."  A  strike 
occurs  when  wage  earners  unitedly  cease  work  but  attempt 
to  retain  their  places  as  employees.  The  purpose  of  a  strike 
is  usually  to  obtain  some  improvement  in  working  conditions 
or  to  prevent  some  change  which  is  considered  disadvanta- 
geous to  the  workmen.  Occasionally,  the  primary  motive  may 
be  malicious.  When  the  employer  closes  his  shop  because 
of  a  disagreement  with  his  employees  a  lockout  occurs.  The 
difference  between  a  strike  and  a  lockout  lies  chiefly  in  the 
initiation  of  the  action  which  stops  the  wheels  of  the  industry. 
The  strike  is  one  of  the  most  formidable  weapons  in  labor's 
armory.  It  is  not  a  logical  or  a  just  way  of  setthng  industrial 
disputes;  it  is  in  essence  an  appeal  to  financial  or  brute 
strength  and  endurance. 

The  slave  insurrections  of  Rome  and  the  peasant  wars  of 
medieval  Europe  were  the  prototypes  of  the  strike.  Some 
references  to  strikes  are  found  in  the  history  of  the  fourteenth, 
fifteenth,  and  sixteenth  centuries.  The  earliest  strike  in  Amer- 
ica of  which  we  have  any  knowledge  occurred  in  1740  or  174 1. 
The  journeyman  bakers  of  New  York  City  struck  for  an 
increase  of  wages.  The  bakers  were  tried  for  conspiracy  and 
convicted,  but  no  record  appears  to  prove  that  sentence  was 
passed  upon  them.     The  shoemakers  of  Philadelphia  con- 

i6q 


: 


> 


',< 


lyo    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

ducted  strikes  in  1796,  1798,  and  1799.  In  1803  a  strike  of 
sailors  occurred  in  New  York  City.  The  sailors  demanded  an 
increase  of  wages  from  $10  to  $14  per  month.  In  1809  the 
cordwainers  of  New  York  City  went  on  a  strike.  The  term 
"scab"  was  used  at  this  time.  During  the  period  of  rising 
prices  inmiediately  preceding  the  panic  of  1837  many  strikes 
occurred.  The  oft-quoted  statement  of  a  New  York  City 
newspaper  in  1835  was  that  ** strikes  are  all  the  fashion." 
A  unique  strike  occurred  during  this  period  among  the  women 
shoebinders  of  Lynn.  These  women  were  home  workers. 
They  called  a  meeting  and  resolved  that  no  more  work  should 
be  done  until  an  increase  in  wages  was  granted.  After  a 
struggle  of  about  four  weeks  the  strike  was  lost.  These  early 
strikes  were  not  of  far-reaching  importance.  I^abor  organi- 
zations were  ephemeral;  and  the  relations  between  employer 
and  employee  were  in  a  large  measure  personal  and  bargain- 
ing was  individual.  The  strikes  of  far-reaching  influence  in 
which  the  general  public  are  vitally  interested  appear  at  a 
later  date.  The  first  great  labor  dispute  in  the  United  States 
was  the  railway  strike  of  1877.  This  strike  stopped  railway 
traffic  and  was  accompanied  by  serious  rioting  and  the  de- 
struction of  property.  The  center  of  the  disturbance  was  at 
Pittsburgh.  State  troops  were  called  out  and  gatling  gims 
were  used.^ 

No  accurate  statistics  of  strikes  and  lockouts  prior  to  1881 
are  available.  From  1881  to  1905  the  Bureau  of  Labor  fur- 
nished carefully  compiled  statistics  of  labor  disturbances. 
The  Bureau  has  obtained  information  regarding  1,440  strikes 
and  lockouts  in  the  period  of  174 1  to  188 1.  Of  this  total  only 
four  occurred  prior  to  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
During  the  quarter  of  a  century  from  1881  to  1905  inclusive, 
36,757  strikes  are  recorded  directly  affecting  181,407  estab- 
lishments.   The  largest  number  of  strikes  occurring  in  one 

^  Sixteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Commissioner  0/  Labor.    Chapter  III. 


COERCIVE    METHODS 


171 


year  was  3,494  in  1903.     The  maximum  number  of  employ- 
ees thrown  out  of  work  is  found  in  1894,  the  year  in  which 
occurred  the  Pulhnan  strike.    The  number  was  660,425.    In 
1902,  in  which  year  occurred  the  anthracite  coal  strike,  659,792 
employees  were  thrown  out  of  work  because  of  strikes.     The 
total  number  of  lockouts  during  the  period  1881  to  1905  was 
1,546;  and  the  number  of  employees  locked  out,   716,231. 
Slightly  more  than  one-fourth  of  the  total  number  of  strikes 
occurred  in  the  building  trades;  but  nearly  one- third  of  the 
total  number  of  strikers  were  in  the  coal  and  coke  industry. 
Nearly  one-half  of  the  total  number  of  strikes  occurred  in 
three  great  industrial  states,  —  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and 
Illinois.     Of  the  total  number  of  strikers  involved,  one-fourth 
were  in  Pennsylvania.     More  strikes  occurred  during  the  five- 
year  period,  1901-1905,  than  during  the  preceding  decade. 
The  totals  are  13,964  and  13,620  respectively. ^    A  study  of 
a  statistical  table  of  strikes  bears  out  the  opinion  that  strikes 
are  symptomatic  of  prosperity  rather  than  of  industrial  de- 
pression.   The  worker  makes  his  demands  for  a  shorter  work- 
ing  day,   increased   wages,   and   better  working   conditions 
when  the  financial  skies  are  bright.     If  the  attendon  is  di- 
rected to  the  losses  in  wages  and  to  the  number  of  employees 
involved  in  strikes,  the  validity  of  this  conclusion  may  be 
questioned.     Professor  Farnam,  measuring  the  intensity  of 
labor  disturbances  by  an  index  obtained  by  multiplying  the 
number  of  persons  concerned  in  strikes  by  the  average  dura- 
tion, draws  the  pertinent  conclusion  that  strikes  are  the  evi- 
dence of  friction  connected  with  a  process  of  readjustment. 
'They  are,  therefore,  liable  to  occur  during  the  readjustment 
following  bad  rimes  as  well  as  during  the  readjustment  which 
comes  with  rising  prices  and  prosperity. " 
Causes  of  Strikes.    The  following  table  gives  the  relative 

^  Statistics  compiled  from  the  Twenty-first  Annual  Report  of  the  Commissioner 
cf  Labor.    Chapter  I. 


b 


i 


t 


: 


J 72    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 


,  V 


I 


i 


importance  of  several  of  the  most  important  causes  of  strikes 
as  determined  by  the  Bureau  of  Labor.  Such  a  table  must 
be  used  with  caution  because  undoubtedly  the  apparent 
cause  of  a  strike  is  often  not  the  real  cause,  and  because 
almost  every  strike  is  the  result  of  a  complex  of  causes  rather 
than  of  one  distinct  cause.  The  following  table  shows  the 
shifting  importance  of  certain  leading  and  fairly  definite 
causes  of  strikes: 

Cause  or  Object  1881         i8gi         1901        igos 

Per  cent.     Per  cent.     Per  cent.     Per  cent. 

For  increase  of  wages 61.15  26.67  29.04  32.24 

Against  reduction  of  wages 10.40  10.77  4-34  4-96 

For  reduction  of  hours 2.97  4.95  7.01  5.01 

Concerning  recognition  of  union  and 

union  rules S-73  14-27  27.98  30.86 

The  relative  increase  in  the  number  of  strikes  caused  by  con- 
troversies over  union  rules  is  rapid;  and  is  indicative  either 
of  the  growing  strength  of  labor  organizations  or  of  the  in- 
creasing antagonism  of  employers'  associations,  or  of  both. 

Of  the  strikes  during  the  period,  68.99  P^^  cent,  were  or- 
dered by  labor  organizations.  In  1904,  a  year  of  industrial 
prosperity,  labor  organizations  ordered  82.14  per  cent,  of  all 
the  strikes;  but  in  1895,  a  year  of  industrial  lassitude,  they 
were  responsible  for  only  54.25  per  cent.  Of  the  strikes 
ordered  by  unions  during  the  twenty-five  years,  49.48  per 
cent,  succeeded,  15.87  per  cent,  ''succeeded  partly,"  and 
34.65  per  cent,  failed.  Of  those  not  ordered  by  labor  organi- 
zations, the  percentages  are  33.86,  9.83,  and  56.31  respec- 
tively. 

An  examination  of  the  statistics  of  strikes  during  the  period 
1 88 1  to  1905  warrants  several  interesting  conclusions.^  (i)  A 
rapid  absolute  increase  in  the  number  of  strikes  has  occurred. 

*  Compare  with  Huebner,  Report  of  the  Wisconsin  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics, 
1905-1906. 


HI 


COERCIX'E  METHODS 


173 


(2)  The  wage  rate  is  losing  its  importance  as  a  cause  of 
strikes.  In  1 88 1,  71.55  per  cent  of  the  strikes  were  attrib- 
uted  solely  to  this  cause;  in  1905  the  percentage  was  37.20. 
In  the  year  ending  September  30,  1907,  98  per  cent  of  the 
advances  in  wages  reported  by  the  Massachusetts  Bureau  of 
Labor  Statistics  were  given  without  recourse  to  a  strike. 

(3)  The  importance  of  purely  union  causes  of  strikes  is  rapidly 
increasing.  (4)  Excepting  the  year  1905,  the  number  of  em- 
ployees and  establishments  annually  affected  by  strikes  tends 
to  increase.  (5)  The  growing  strength  of  labor  organiza- 
tions is  making  the  strike  a  more  formidable  and  dangerous 
weapon.  On  the  other  hand,  the  progress  toward  centraliza- 
tion in  the  control  of  capital  gives  the  employer  a  position  of 
advantage.  The  percentage  of  successful  strikes  is  declining 
rather  than  increasing.  (6)  Strikes  are  becoming  of  greater 
importance  to  both  parties  directly  concerned,  and  to  the 
general  public. 

These  conclusions  are  substantially  true  of  the  situation 
existing  a  decade  and  one-half  later.  The  rising  level  of 
prices  has  tended  further  to  emphasize  the  importance  of 
wages  as  a  cause  of  strikes.  In  the  big  steel  strike  of  1919, 
however,  recognition  of  the  union  was  a  fundamental  point 
at  issue.  Recent  strikes  in  key  industries  like  the  coal  mines 
and  the  railways  have  placed  further  stress  upon  the  interest 
of  the  public  in  maintaining  industrial  peace.  The  right  of 
the  public  to  demand  uninterrupted  service  is  being  empha- 
sized in  the  discussion  of  the  strike  problem. 

Violence  Connected  with  Strikes  atid  Lockouts.  Extreme 
.  difTerences  of  opinion  exist  as  to  the  prevalence  of  violence 
during  strikes,  and  as  to  the  attitude  of  organized  labor 
toward  the  use  of  force  in  labor  disputes.  John  Mitchel 
declares  that  "the  conduct  of  strikes  without  violence  is  as 
advantageous  and  successful  as  the  use  of  violence  is  futile 
and  immoral.     In  the  long  run,  violence  acts  as  a  boomerang 


< 


■I 


I 


h 


i 


'• 


if, 

ill 


i|l>i 


,1 


H 


174     HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

and  defeats  its  own  purposes."     On  the  other  hand,  a  cham- 
pion of  the  "union  smashers"  declares:  ''Organized  labor 
knows  but  one  law,  and  that  is  the  law  of  physical  force  — 
the  law  of  the  Huns  and  Vandals,  the  law  of  the  savage.     All 
its  purposes  are  accomplished  either  by  actual  force  or  by  the 
threat  of  force."    The  violence  occurring  during  a  strike  is 
often  exaggerated;  and  much  violence  is  due  to  outsiders  or 
to  the  unauthorized  acts  of  irrepressible  members  of  the  union. 
Under  any  condition,  the  presence  of  large  numbers  of  idle 
men  in  a  mining  town  or  a  manufacturing  city  is  prolific  of 
brawls  and   of  violation  of  law.     Every  holiday  brings  its 
additions  to  the  normal  number  of  disturbances  in  a  city. 
Furthermore,  it  is  not  fair  to  hold  the  union  and  union  officers 
responsible  for  all  the  acts  of  union  men.     Newly  organized 
and  undisciplined  unions  of  unskilled  or  semi-skilled  men  are 
most  prone  to  resort  to  violence.    Well-organized  unions  of 
skilled  men,  supported  by  a  full  treasury,  usually  discoun- 
tenance violence.     A  strike  is,  however,  an  attempt  to  coerce 
an  employer  or  combination  of  employers;  and  close  contact 
between   union   men   and    strike   breakers   always    contains 
elements  of  danger.     "In  short,  I  see  no  escape  from  the 
conclusion  that  the  typical  strike  is  waged  in  an  atmosphere 
so  surcharged  with  menace,  that  wide-spread  intimidation  and 
sporadic  acts  of  violence  are  precipitated  as  inevitably  as  the 
atmosphere  of  the  earth  precipitates  dew."^ 

It  must  not  be  forgotten,  however,  that  employers  are  often 
as  brutal  as  the  union  ''sluggers";  but  in  a  less  conspicuous 
and  more  impersonal  manner.  They  are  ready,  and  some- 
times eager,  to  starve  their  striking  workmen,  or  to  terrorize 
them  into  submission.  The  unionist  is  justified  in  calling 
attention  to  the  fact  that  much  is  spoken  and  written  as  to 
what  the  union  men  should  do  or  not  do,  while  but  little  is 

»  Adams,  Publications  of  the  American  Economic  Association,  Feb.,  1906, 
p.  179. 


COERCIVE   METHODS 


175 


said  as  to  the  responsibilities  of  employers  to  men  locked  out, 
for  the  use  of  the  black  list,  for  the  hiring  of  private  police, 
and  for  the  eviction  of  helpless  tenants.    The  employer  can 
often  accompHsh  his  purpose  in  such  a  way  that  the  motive 
is  hidden.     Brutality  on  the  part  of  the  employer  may  be 
clothed  in  the  radiant  garb  of  altruism,  —  not  so  in  the  case 
of  the  employee.    The  employer  can  use  more  subtle,  but  just 
as  effective,  weapons  than  the  club.     Employers,  as  well  as 
their  striking  employees,  often  break  laws,  —  such  as  the  acts 
in  regard  to  safeguarding  machinery,  rebating,  adulterating 
products,  etc.     Bribery  and  the  corruption  of  governmental 
inspectors  are  by  no  means  unknown.     The  employer  often 
sets  the  employee  an  example  of  law  evasion;  and  then  the 
former  too  often  escapes  punishment  because  of  technicalities 
in  legal  procedure  or  through  political  favoritism.     We  should 
not  condone  strike  violence  on  the  part  of  harassed  working- 
men,  but  we  should  more  strongly  condemn  the  long-distant 
and  dispassionate  maiming  and  murder  of  workers.     The  man 
who  stuffs  the  ballot-box,  pumps  polluted  water  into  water 
pipes,  or  refuses  to  guard  his  machinery  as  the  law  requires, 
commits  a  crime  just  as  much  as  does  the  workman  when  he 
slugs  the  ''scab"  who  has  taken  his  job.    In  the  McKees 
Rocks  strike  (1909),  the  strikers  are  reported  to  have  asserted, 
correctly  or  incorrectly,  that  troops  had  been  used  to  break 
down  their  organization.     It  was  further  asserted  that  strikers 
had  been   shot   down  when   there  was  no  lawful   occasion 
for  shooting.     The  strikers  finally  held  that  a  state  of  war 
existed,  and  threatened  to  shoot  a  trooper  for  every  striker 
shot  by  the  state  troops. 

The  intense  hatred  manifested  towards  the  strike  breaker 
or  scab"  is  a  cause  of  much  violence  during  the  course  of  a 
strike.  The  circumstances  which  produce  this  intense  aver- 
sion are  often  not  clearly  recognized.  A  strike  frequently 
involves  the  threat,  if  not  the  reality,  of  poverty  and  suffering 


!('•  ) 


'■■i  h 


^^1 


176     HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

for  the  families  of  the  strikers.    The  strike  breaker  is  one  who 
seems  to  be  taking  the  bread  out  of  the  mouths  of  the  wife 
and  children  of  the  striker.     Early  wars  were  usually  fought 
for  the  control  of  food  supplies.    A  job  is  the  modern  source 
of  supply  for  the  mass  of  the  people.    It  is  natural  that  "  Thou 
shalt  not  take  thy  neighbor's  job"  should  be  a  real,  living 
commandment  to  the  wage  earner.    It  is  not  strange  that 
the  strike  breaker  should  be  considered  to  be  an  outcast  and 
a  traitor  to  his  class.     Business  combinations  hate  the  price- 
cutting  establishment  and  often  try  to  injure  it.     Physicians 
and  dentists  are  very  bitter  toward  the  advertising  and  fee- 
cutting  members  of  their  respective  professions.     It  may  also 
not  be  entirely  gratuitous  to  point  out  (i)  that  in  America 
there  has  been  much  disregard  of  human  hfe,  —  much  mob 
violence,  many  accidents  in  factories  and  on  railways,  many 
lynchings,  and  numerous  homicides.    Human  life  is  valued 
cheaply  in  this  country.     (2)  The  man  who  is  accustomed  to 
face  danger  in  the  shop,  on  the  railway,  or  in  the  occupation 
of  a  linesman  is  not  Hkely  to  be  adverse  to  the  use  of  vio- 
lence when  his  passions  are  aroused. 

Losses  due  to  Strikes  and  Lockouts.  The  Bureau  of  Labor 
estimated  that  the  total  loss  due  to  strikes  and  lockouts  dur- 
ing the  period  of  twenty  years  from  1881  to  1900  was  approx- 
imately $469,000,000.  This  is  a  large  sum;  but  it  amounts 
to  an  expense  of  only  about  three  cents  per  month  per  inhabi- 
tant of  the  United  States.  The  workingman  has  spent  less 
than  one  per  cent,  of  his  income  on  strikes.  The  total  loss  in 
unemployment  amounts  to  approximately  194,000,000  days; 
but  spread  over  the  entire  period  of  two  decades  it  amounts 
to  less  than  one  day  per  year  per  adult  worker.  ^  It  is  not 
difficult  to  exaggerate  the  financial  losses  due  to  strikes. 
Frequently  the  time  of  unemployment  is  merely  shifted  from 
one  season  of  the  year  to  another.    The  following  statement 

^  Mitchell,  Organized  Labor,  pp.  309-310. 


COERCIX'E  METHODS 


177 


f 


from  the  Report  of  the  Industrial  Commission  is  to  the  point: 
"Very  many  establishments  find  it  impossible,  because  of 
insufficient  demand  for  their  products  or  for  other  reasons,  to 
operate  continuously.    The  employees  by  striking  may'  so 
reduce  the  product  for  the  time  being  that  during  the  remain- 
der of  the  year  the  establishments  will  be  active,  and  idleness 
which  might  otherwise  have  occurred  for  other  reasons  will 
be  avoided."!    The  most   significant  losses,   however,   are 
frequently  in  other  industries  dependent  upon  the  industry 
in  which  the  strike  occurs.     The  greatest  losses  from  the  coal 
strike  of  19 19  were  in  connection  with  the  shutdowns  and  the 
resultant  unemployment  in  many  lines  of  business  dependent 
upon  a  coal  supply.     A  railway  strike  will  very  shortly  dis-. 
organize  the  industry  of  many  cities  and  districts.    The  losses 
direct  and  indirect  of  strikes  in  key  industries  are  enormous. 
New  Aspects  of  Strikes.    The  growth  of  large-scale  industry, 
of  trusts,  and  of  employers'  associations  which  are  firmly 
knit  together,  affect  the  efficacy  of  the  strike  as  a  weapon  of 
organized  labor.     In  the  days  when  competitors  were  many, 
strikes  were  often  terminated  because  the  employer  feared 
that  some  of  his  business  would  be  permanently  absorbed  by 
his  competitors  and  that  his  business  would  suffer  not  only 
during  the  strike,  but  after  its  termination.     In  many  of  the 
leading  industries,  centralization  has  proceeded  so  far  that  this 
fear  is  largely  removed.     The  strike,  producing  a  scarcity  of 
supply,  may  even  tend  to  augment  instead  of  to  diminish 
profits,  —  prices  will  go  up  and  perhaps  wages  may  be  forced 
down.     If  profits  are  endangered,  some  concessions  can  be 
given  the  workmen  and  prices  can  be  raised.    A  single  com- 
peting firm  cannot  accomplish  this  feat,  but  the  big  combina- 
tion can  and  frequently  does.     Statistics  indicate  that  higher 
average  wages  are  paid  by  large  corporations  than  by  smaller 
firms.     The  ability  to  boost  prices  in  case  of  wage  advances 

'  Vol.  19:  874-875. 


I 


178     HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

may  partially  account  for  the  prevalence  of  the  higher  wage 
rates  in  industries  controlled  by  large  establishments.     The 
trust  or  the  establishment  which  is  not  harassed  by  strong 
competitors  may  face,  therefore,  a  strike  with  a  very  different 
attitude  from  that  of  a  small  firm  competing  with  many  others. 
(i)  It  may  prolong  the  struggle  with  little  fear  from  competi- 
tors; and  raise  the  price  of  the  stock  of  goods  on  hand,  or  book 
orders  for  future  delivery.     (2)  Or  it  may  grant  higher  wages, 
and  make  the  concession  an  excellent  excuse  for  permanently 
raising  the  price  of- its  products.     The  advent  of  the  trust  and 
the  growth  of  large  employers'  associations  may  so  reduce  the 
importance  of  the  strike  as  a  weapon  of  labor  organization 
that  some  other  instrument  will  be  utilized.    Undoubtedly 
the  time  has  not  yet  arrived  when  labor  can  with  safety 
give  up  the  strike  unless  the  employer  also  relinquishes  the 
right  of  arbitrary  discharge;  but  there  is  reason  to  believe,  as 
will  be  indicated  in  another  chapter,  that  political  activity  on 
the  part  of  labor  is  to  be  of  increasing  importance  in  the  future. 
In  the  case  of  public  employment  in  a  country  where  manhood 
suffrage  is  granted,  a  strike  among  the  organized  male  em- 
ployees is  unnecessary,  unless,  of  course,  the  demands  of  the 
majority  are  smothered  by  corruption  or  improper  political 
manipulation.     That  the  organization  of  public  employees  is 
beneficial  to  the  workers  has  been  demonstrated  by  the  Post- 
Oflftce  Clerks'  Association;  and,  if  their  demands  are  reason- 
able, the  mass  of  the  laboring  people  may  be  expected  to 
support  the  public  employees  with  their  votes.     In  public 
employment,  the  pressure  of  competition  is  absent,  and  the 
economic  forces  which  cause  the  private  employer  to  resist  a 
grant  of  increased  wages  or  of  a  shorter  working  day  are  not 
active.     Strikes  occasionally  occur  in  public  employment.    In 
1903  the  government  railways  of  Victoria  were  tied  up  on 
account  of  a  strike ;  railway  strikes  have  occurred  in  France. 
A  strike  of  the  Boston  policemen  took  place  in  19 19. 


COERCIVE  METHODS  j^^ 

The  strikes  occurring  before  the  Civil  War  and  even  before 
the  last  decade  or  two  were  spontaneous  outbursts  and  were 
conducted  m  an  unsystematic  manner.     During  the  Civil  War 
few,  If  any  sympathetic  strikes  occurred;  and  the  employees 
m  each  shop  usually  resumed   work  when  a   satisfactory 
agreement  was  concluded  with  their  employer  irrespective 
of    the    situation    m    other    shops.      In    recent    years    the 
strike  has  been  ''commercialized";   it  is  now  conducted  in  a 
systematic  manner.     Preparation  is  made  for  it  in  advance 
Money  is  accumulated  in  the  treasuries  of  unions  and  of 
employers    associations  .  for  strike  purposes.     Picketing  and 
boycottmg  are  systematically  carried  out  by  the  strikers- 
the  employers  have  their  army  of  strike  breakers  and  spies! 
The  strike  of  the  first  decade  of  the  twentieth  century  is  as 
different  from  that  of  1835  as  modern  military  tacrics  differ 
fiom    tribal   warfare.     "The   serious   development   of   the 
century  is  the  systematization  of  the  boycott  and  the  black- 
list  the  constant  and  fairly  successful  effort  of  trade  unions 
and  employers'  associarions  to  improve  and  perfect  their 
respective  weapons  of  coercion,  to  give  them  a  legal  status 
and  transform  them  -  as  the  relatively  imiocuous  pool  was 
transformed  mto  the  more  menacing  holding  corporation  - 
into  lawful  instruments  which  are  doubly  oppressive,  because 
doubly  efficient,  by  reason  of  their  very  validity.     Both  sides 

mlopoT'- ^  ^^^''''^^  '"^  ^'^''^  ^"""^  ^'^^^^'  '""'''^^^  ^^^ 
A  strike  is  essentially  a  class  struggle;  but  the  ethics  of 
the  strike  are  essentially  the  ethics  of  war  or  of  the  feud. 
No  matter  whether  the  local  poUce,  state  militia  or  con- 
stabulary,  or  the  regulars  of  the  United  States  army  are 
used  m  maintaining  order  and  in  enforcing  the  law  during  a 
strike,  the  strikmg  workers  almost  invariably  feel  that  they 
are  inequitably  treated.     The  workers  evidently  reach  the 

»  Adams,  Publications  of  the  American  Econonuc  Asso.,  Feb.,  1906,  p.  19a. 


\  I 


\m 


n 


I 


1 80    HISTORY   AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

conclusion  that  the  government  does  not  adequately  represent 
their  interest  in  a  time  of  industrial  conflict.  The  editor  of 
a  well-known  weekly  advocates  placing  strike  police  under 
the  control  of  a  commission  upon  which  both  employers  and 
employees  are  represented.  This  step  would  tend  to  prevent 
the  recurrence  of  the  charge  of  prejudiced  control  of  the 
guardians  of  law  and  order. 

Early  strikes  were  initiated,  controlled  and  financed  by 
locals.  In  harmony  with  the  general  trend  toward  centraliza- 
tion of  control  in  labor  organizations,  the  tendency  has  been 
to  give  the  national  officers  more  and  more  authority  in 
regard  to  strikes.  This  trend  is  especially  clear  in  organiza- 
tions in  which  strike  benefits  are  paid  by  the  national  body. 
Many  national  unions  require  the  locals  to  make  definite 
efforts  to  adjust  the  difficulty  before  applying  to  the  national 
officers  for  sanction  of  a  proposed  strike.  A  representative 
of  the  national  union  is  usually  sent  to  the  scene  of  the  dif- 
ficulty.^ Sabotage  is  a  sort  of  ''diluted'*  strike;  the  men 
remain  at  work  and  receive  wages,  but  reduce  output,  injure 
machinery,  clog  the  transportation  system,  impair  the  quality 
of  the  product,  or  perform  some  other  discreditable  act  for 
the  purpose  of  harassing  the  employer.  It  is  difficult  to 
draw  a  line  between  the  more  passive  forms  of  sabotage  and 
restriction  of  output.  In  fact,  both  employers  and  employees 
often  practice  the  kind  of  sabotage  which  restricts  output. 
Sabotage  is  advocated  chiefly  by  radical  unions;  it  is  essen- 
tially the  weapon  of  the  slave  or  of  the  coward. 

The  Boycott.  The  boycott  may  be  divided  into  three  classes : 
the  simple  boycott,  the  compound  boycott,  and  the  unfair 
list.  In  the  simple  boycott  only  the  persons  directly  interested 
are  involved.  The  members  of  a  union  may  refuse  to  buy 
an  article  produced  by  a  firm  declared  to  be  "unfair"  to  union 
labor.    The  compound  or  the  secondary  boycott  involves  third 

*  Janes,  The  Control  of  Strikes  in  A  merican  Trade  Unions. 


I! 


'  y 


COERCIVE  METHODS 


181 


parties  who  are  not  directly  interested  in   the  dispute.     The 
term  boycott  usually  refers  to  the  compound  boycott.    If  the 
members  of  the  union  mentioned  above  refuse  to  patronize 
a  merchant  who  handles  along  with  other  merchandise  the 
product  of  the  boycotted  manufacturer,  the  boycott  is  said 
to  be  compound.    Again,  if  the  members  of  the  union  persuade 
or  coerce  others  into  refusing  to  buy  the  product  of  the  boy- 
cotted manufacturer  or  of  the  merchant  who  sells  the  former's 
goods,  the  boycott  is  compound.    The  Court  of  Appeals  of  the 
District  of  Columbia  defined  the  boycott  as  "a  combination  to 
harm  one  person  by  coercing  others  to  harm  him. "    The  com- 
pound boycott  may  become  one  of  the  most  cruel  and  inde- 
fensible weapons  of  organized  labor.     Some  years  ago  a  street 
car  strike  occurred  in  one  of  our  industrial  cities.    Women 
who  had  ridden  on  street  cars  manned  by  non-union  crews 
found  it  difficult  to  buy  groceries  and  medicines  in  the  section 
of  the  city  in  which  they  resided.     Store-keepers  were  warned 
by  watchful  pickets  not  to  sell  to  them  under  the  penalty  of 
a  boycott. 

The  success  of  a  boycott  depends  upon  the  solidarity  of 
organized  labor  and  upon  the  ability  to  spread  the  knowledge 
of  the  boycott  far  and  wide.    The  boycott  succeeds  best  when 
it  is  directed  against  articles  of  wide  use  among  the  masses  of 
the  people,  —  tobacco,  beer,  baked  goods,  the  cheaper  kinds  of 
clothing.    *'  In  the  brewing  industry  the  boycott  is  an  especially 
good  weapon  because  the  male  workers,  who  are  the  best  or- 
ganized, have  the  decision  in  the  matter  of  purchasing. "    The 
Brewery  Workers  have  used  this  weapon  effectively  in  several 
bitterly  contested  labor  disputes.     The  boycott  in  their  hands 
was  such  a  powerful  weapon  that  it  reacted  so  as  to  increase  the 
membersliip  of  the  brewery  workers'  union.     Employers  have 
in  some  cases  urged  the  ''  unionization  "  of  their  plants  in  order 
to  avoid  the  effect  of  the  boycott.    As  a  consequence  of  this 
unusual  situation  the  solidarity  of  the  brewery  workers  is  not 


4 

i 


|i 


182     HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

as  great  as  it  would  be  if  the  men  had  joined  because  they 
felt  the  necessity  of  unionization.^ 

The  unfair  list  is  usually  a  list  of  manufacturers  and  deal- 
ers who  are  considered  to  be  unfair  to  organized  labor.  The 
list  is  published  in  various  labor  papers.  The  intent  is  to 
warn  the  readers  against  purchasing  the  goods  produced  or 
sold  by  the  firms  included  in  the  Ust.  A  fair  hst  is  the  reverse 
of  the  unfair  list.  The  fair  Ust  is  not  legally  recognized  as  a 
form  of  the  boycott. 

The  Attitude  of  the  Courts  Toward  Strikes  and  Boycotts. 
The  rights  of  wage  earners  to  collectively  quit  work,  to  picket 
the  establishment  of  their  employer,  and  to  boycott  the  pro- 
ducts of  his  establishment  encounter  two  important  obstacles 
in  the  courts:  (i)  Such  acts  may  be  declared  to  constitute 
a  conspiracy  under  the  common  law  or  an  interference  with 
private  property  rights;  or  (2)  they  may  be  declared  to 
constitute  interference  with  interstate  commerce  and  to  be 
illegal  under  statute  law.  Perhaps  the  most  commonly 
accepted  definition  of  a  conspiracy  at  common  law  is  that 
"a  conspiracy  must  be  a  combination  of  two  or  more  persons, 
by  some  concerted  action,  to  accomplish  some  criminal  or 
unlawful  purpose,  or  to  accomplish  some  purpose  not  in 
itself  criminal  or  unlawful,  by  criminal  or  unlawful  means." 
Originally  the  strike  was  considered  to  be  a  conspiracy  by  the 
English  courts,  and  certain  early  decisions  of  American 
courts  adhered  to  this  doctrine  of  the  common  law.  This 
attitude  was  finally  abandoned  in  both  countries.  Several 
states  have  by  statute  modified  the  common  law  doctrine  of 
conspiracy  in  so  far  as  it  concerns  labor  organizations.  A 
combination  to  raise  wages  was  taken  out  of  the  category  of 
conspiracies  by  the  courts;  but  a  combination  to  raise  prices 
still  remains  in  that  category.    The  general  rule  under  the 

»  Schluter,  History  of  the  Brewing  Industry  and  the  Brewery  Workers'  Organize 
(ion,  pp.  275-276. 


COERCIVE  METHODS 


183 


common  law  is,  briefly  stated,  that  strikes  are  lawful  if  the 
purpose  is  primarily  to  improve  the  working  conditions.     If 
the  primary  purpose  is  to  injure  the  employer,  that  is,  if  the 
intent  is  mahcious,   the  strike  is  illegal.     All  strikes  may 
cause  the  business  of  the  employer  to  be  injured,  but  if  the 
injury  is  a  secondary  or  incidental  result  of  the  strike  it  is 
generally  held  to  be  a  lawful  exercise  of  the  rights  of  a  combi- 
nation of  wage  earners.     The  determination  of  the  intent  is 
often  extremely  difficult.     The  sympathetic  strike  is  prob- 
ably unlawful.     The  courts  are  not  easily  convinced  that  the 
interest  of  working  men  in  one  establishment  in  the  affairs  of 
those  in  another  establishment  is  sufficiently  direct  and  im- 
mediate to  warrant  an  additional  strike  which  interferes  with 
business  and  adversely  affects  the  welfare  of  the  community. 
As  a  rule,  a  strike  to  cause  the  discharge  or  to  prevent  the 
employment  of  non-union  men  is  held  to  be  unlawful.     A 
New  York  decision  is  to  the  effect  that  a  combination  of 
workingmen  to  prevent  certain  objectionable  persons  from 
working  in  a  given  district  is  a  criminal  conspiracy.     An 
Illinois  decision  given  in  1900  declared  that  injunctions  will 
be  granted  in  case  of  threatened  strikes  for  the  purpose  of 
securing  the  discharge  or   to  prevent  the  employment  of 
non-union  men.     A  minority  report  of  the  Commission  on 
Industrial   Relations,   written  by  Professor   Commons,  ad- 
vocated the  enactment  by  state  legislatures  and  by  Congress 
of  laws  definitely  legalizing  the  closed  shop,  the  strike  and 
lockout,  boycott  and  blacklist,  picketing  and  strikebreaking. 
The  theory  was  that  the  settlement  of  labor  disputes  by 
courts  would  sooner  or  later  force  the  courts  into  politics. 
Strong  labor  organizations  and  powerful  employers'  asso- 
ciations were  held  to  be  desirable  to  check  each  other.     The 
Manly  report  signed  by  four  of  the  nine  members  of  the 
Commission  also  agreed  that  these  practices  should  be  clearly 
legalized. 


L^ 


I 


# 


j 

I?  ' 

1;*  ^ 

■^  [ 


184     HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF   ORGANIZED    LABOR 

Certain  qualifications  in  regard  to  the  attitude  of  the  courts 
must  be  noted.  These  qualifications  appear  to  be  of  increas- 
ing importance,  and  are  due  to  the  passage  of  statutes  or  to 
the  extension  by  court  decisions  of  the  police  power  of  the 
state.  It  has  been  held  that  quitting  work  under  certain 
peculiar  circumstances  is  unlawful.  In  such  cases  unusual 
danger  to  life  and  property  are  involved.  Under  the  statute 
law  of  New  York,  a  person  or  combination  of  persons,  wilfully 
quitting  work  while  under  contract  to  continue,  is  guilty  of  a 
misdemeanor  provided  the  refusal  to  keep  the  contract  en- 
dangers life  or  property.  In  some  Southern  states,  for  ex- 
ample Mississippi,  it  is  a  criminal  offense  for  a  laborer  or 
renter  under  contract  to  perform  certain  services,  and  to  whom 
money  or  supplies  have  been  furnished,  to  break  his  contract 
unless  all  sums  advanced  are  returned.  Such  an  act  is  held 
to  be  prima  facie  evidence  of  intent  to  defraud,  and  may  be 
punished  by  fine  or  imprisonment,  or  both.  As  a  rule,  how- 
ever, employees  violating  a  labor  contract  are  subject  only 
to  civil  action  for  damages.  In  Great  Britain  a  person,  or  a 
combination  of  persons,  quitting  work  while  under  contract  to 
continue,  may  be  punished  if  such  act  exposes  persons  or 
property  to  the  risk  of  serious  injury.  ^  There  is  reason  to 
believe  that  strikes  on  the  part  of  railway  employees,  of  suffi- 
cient magnitude  to  tie  up  an  important  system,  to  obstruct 
interstate  commerce,  or  to  interfere  with  the  United  States 
mail,  and  to  endanger  the  welfare  of  many  people  and  various 
communities,  are  unlawful  under  the  United  States  statutes 
relating  to  interstate  commerce  and  the  mail  service,  and 
imder  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act.^  It  is  not  lawful  for  a 
railway  employee  to  abandon  his  engine  while  en  route  to  its 

*  Bolen,  Getting  a  Living,  p.  708,  foot-note. 

^  Report  of  Industrial  Commission j  Vol.  17:  cxx-cxxi;  54  Fed.  Rep.,  p.  803;  62 
Fed.  Rep.y  pp.  803,  821.  For  different  interpretation,  see  Adams  and  Sumner, 
Labor  Problems,  p.  195.  See  Johnson,  American  Railway  Transportation, 
pp.  396-401  (2d  edition). 


COERCIVE   METHODS 


185 


regular  destination.  Employees  while  remaining  in  the  ser- 
vice are  required  to  perform  their  regular  services.  A  refusal, 
for  example,  to  haul  the  cars  of  another  company  in  order  to 
give  assistance  to  strikers  is  unlawful.  The  railway  and 
public  service  corporations  of  various  sorts  are  peculiar  indus- 
tries. The  welfare  of  the  general  public  is  seriously  affected 
by  any  long-continued  interruption  of  the  service.  The 
growth  of  trusts  which  control  the  necessities  of  life  is  pushing 
them  into  the  same  category.  The  attitude  of  the  public 
and  of  the  courts  toward  strikes  in  those  industries  will  be 
modified  because  of  the  far-reaching  effect  of  a  labor  dispute. 
Advocates  of  compulsory  arbitration  in  particular  industries 
are  not  lacking.  It  is  urged  that  a  group  of  employees  must 
give  up  their  right  to  strike  in  the  interests  of  the  larger 
group  —  the  general  public. 

Picketing  is  accomplished  by  stationing  pickets  near  the 
establishment  of  the  employer  for  the  purpose  of  persuading 
or  coercing  non-union  men  from  taking  the  places  of  the 
strikers.  Peaceful  picketing  is  lawful  under  the  common  law. 
As  a  matter  of  actual  pracrice  picketing  is  unlawful.  The 
courts  hold  that  picketing  almost  inevitably  involves  physi- 
cal intimidation  and  fear.  In  the  language  of  our  court, 
"  there  may  be  threats,  inrimidations,  molestations,  and  ob- 
structions, without  there  being  any  express  words  used  by 
which  a  man  could  show  violent  threats  toward  another  or 
any  express  intimidation."  The  courts  recognize  that 
pickedng  almost  inevitably  creates  ''an  atmosphere  unsuited 
for  'scabs.'"  At  least  two  states,  Washington  and  Colorado, 
have  passed  statutes  expressly  prohibiting  picketing.  The 
English  Trades  Dispute  Act  of  1906  legalized  peaceful  picket- 
ing. 

In  the  case  of  Iron  Workers'  Union  vs.  Allis-Chambers 
Company  in  the  United  States  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals  a 
very  interesting  decision  affecting  the  right  to  picket  and  to 


: 


I' 


"! 


.1 


m 


):v 


^ 


I 


1 86    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

strike  was  handed  down.^  When  the  breaking  of  a  contract 
is  not  involved,  the  court  ruled  that  the  laborers  have  the 
right  to  persuade,  but  not  to  coerce,  other  workers.  The 
court  recognized  the  existence  of  a  struggle  between  employ- 
ers and  employees  for  shares  in  the  joint  product  of  labor  and 
capital.  After  the  strike  was  declared  the  Allis-Chambers 
Company  sent  patterns  to  other  foundries.  The  strikers 
then  induced  molders  working  for  other  firms  to  refuse  to  do 
this  work.  Such  refusal  was  held  to  be  lawful.  In  the  opin- 
ion of  the  court  the  employer  had  the  right  to  seek  the  aid  of 
other  foundrymen,  and  likewise  the  workers  had  the  right 
to  seek  the  aid  of  the  molders  in  order  to  prevent  the  attain- 
ment of  that  end.  Employers,  in  the  judgment  of  the  court, 
may  lawfully  cooperate  and  combine  to  control  the  supply 
and  conditions  of  labor  necessary  to  do  that  work.  Picket- 
ing of  all  kinds  has  been  condemned  ^^by  the  supreme  courts 
of  Illinois,  Michigan  and  New  Jersey  and  in  several  federal 
courts."  2  Federal  Judge  Killets  in  the  Ohio  Telephone 
Company  case  in  191 7  appears  to  hold  that  there  may  be 
peaceful  picketing.  The  Kansas  City  Court  of  Appeals 
declared  that  workers  on  a  strike  *'have  a  right  to  post  men 
near  by  to  quietly  and  peaceably  persuade  other  worI:men 
not  to  take  their  places."  ' 

The  legal  status  of  the  boycott  is  not  fixed  beyond  con- 
troversy. The  decisions  are  somewhat  conflicting.  Under 
the  common  law  the  legality  of  the  boycott,  like  that  of  the 
strike,  depends  upon  the  intent.  If  the  intent  is  malicious, 
the  boycott  is  held  to  be  unlawful.  Many  states  have  statutes 
referring  to  the  boycott  by  name  or  by  implication.  There 
is  no  federal  law  dealing  specifically  with  boycotts;  but  boy- 
cotts have  been  declared  illegal  by  the  federal  courts  under 

^  166  Fed.  Rep.,  p.  45.     Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor.    No.  83:  157  c/  seq. 
*  Commons  and  Andrews,  Principles  of  Labor  Legislation,  p.  i  lo. 
'  Bulletin  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.     No.  169,  pp.  332-334. 


COERCIVE   METHODS 


187 


the  Anti-Trust  Law  and  the  Interstate  Commerce  Act.    In  the 
Danbury  Hatters'  case,  for  example,  a  labor  organization  was 
penaUzed  under  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act  for  interfering 
with  interstate  commerce  by  means  of  a  boycott.    Frequently 
a  distinction  is  drawn  by  the  courts  between  the  primary  and 
secondary  boycott.     The  primary  boycott  is  sometimes  held 
to  be  legal  providing  coercion  is  not  used.    The  secondary 
boycott  is  usually  held  to  be  illegal.     As  this  is  the  most  fre- 
quent form,  the  word  boycott,  when  used  in  legal  decisions, 
as  a  rule,  has  reference  to  the  secondary  boycott.    A  recent 
decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  California  clearly  breaks 
away  from  the  mass  of  legal  precedents.     The  court  declared, 
as  do  labor  leaders  generally,  that  the  distinction  between 
the  primary  and  the  secondary  boycott  was  immaterial.    The 
boycott  was  declared  to  be  legal  as  long  as  the  union  used 
"fair  means"  to  induce  third  parties  to  cease  patronizing  the 
boycotted  firm.^     On  the  contrary,  an  older  Michigan  de- 
cision declared  the  boycott  to  be  a  form  of  coercion.     The 
peaceful  boycott  was  held  to  be  unlawful  and  enjoinable. 
The  presence  or  absence  of  threats  or  coercion  is  the  deter- 
mining factor.   Very  few  decisions  have  been  rendered  in  regard 
to  the  unfair  list.     In  the  famous  Buck  Stove  and  Range 
Company  case  the  courts  of  the  District  of  Columbia  held 
the  unfair  list  to  be  unlawful.     The  officers  of  the  American 
Federation  were  ordered  to  cease  printing  the  name  of  the 
firm  in  the  "We  don't  Patronize"  column  of  their  official 
journal.    A  Missouri  decision  stated  that  the  ''boycott  cir- 
cular" is  legal.     The  California  decision,  mentioned  above, 
intimated  that  the  unfair  fist  was  legal.    Alabama  has  placed 
a  law  upon  her  statue  books  declaring  the  unfair  list  illegal. 
The  legaHty  of  the  secondary  boycott  and  the  unfair  list 
also  hinges  upon  another  disputed  point.    May  an  act  which 
is  lawful  when  performed  by  one  individual,  become  unlaw- 

*  103  Pacific  Rep.,  p.  324.    Bulletin  of  Bureau  of  Labor.     No.  86  :  334  et  seq. 


I 


i>  >1 


ill 


I  i 


1 88    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

fill  when  performed  by  a  group  of  persons  acting  in  a  con- 
certed manner?  The  English  Trades'  Dispute  Act  amended 
the  law  of  conspiracy  in  that  country  so  that  no  action  will 
stand  against  a  combination  performing  acts  which  are  legal 
if  performed  by  an  individual.  Chief  Justice  Shepard  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  District  of  Columbia  in  a  dissenting 
opinion  in  the  Buck  Stove  and  Range  Company  case  held 
that  the  provisions  of  this  act  were  now  generally  accepted 
as  the  common  law  doctrine  in  this  country.  In  June,  1908, 
the  Supreme  Court  of  Montana  rendered  the  following  opin- 
ion. "But  there  can  be  found  running  through  our  legal 
literature  many  remarkable  statements  that  an  act  perfectly 
lawful  when  done  by  one  person  becomes,  by  some  sort  of 
legerdemain,  criminal  when  done  by  two  or  more  persons 
acting  in  concert,  and  this  upon  the  theory  that  concerted 
action  amounts  to  conspiracy.  But  with  this  doctrine  we 
do  not  agree. ''^  Other  eminent  legal  authority  may  be 
found  accepting  a  very  different  doctrine.  Justice  Holmes 
and  Justice  Harlan  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  have 
indicated  in  decisions  that  concerted  efforts  may  be  adjudged 
unlawful  although  the  same  act  performed  by  one  person 
may  be  recognized  as  lawful.^  Labor  leaders  insist  that  mere 
numbers  do  not  affect  the  quality  of  an  act.  If  it  is  lawful 
for  one  man  to  withhold  his  patronage  from  a  dealer  and  to 
advise  his  friends  to  do  likewise,  they  urge  that  a  group  of 
men  have  the  same  rights.  The  opposing  legal  opinions  seem 
to  be  influenced  by  the  idea  that  the  mere  force  of  numbers 
introduces  an  element  of  menace  and  coercion  absent  in  the 
case  of  a  single  person;  and  that  an  ''unwarranted  interfer- 
ence with  the  natural  course  of  trade"  may  follow.  A  reso- 
lution adopted  in  1905  by  the  American  Federation  of  Labor 

^  Lindsay  &  Co,  vs.  Montana  Fed.  of  Labor.  See  Political  Science  Quarterly. 
Vol.  24:  86. 

^  See  Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor.  No.  74:  250-251;  also  no  PTucon^m, 
p.  189. 


V 


COERCIVE   METHODS 


189 


furnishes  a  reasonable  basis  for  such  an  opinion.  "We 
recognize  the  fact  that  a  boycott  means  war,  and  to  success- 
fully carry  out  a  war  we  must  adopt  the  tactics  that  history 
has  shown  are  most  successful  in  war." 

The  trade  boycott  directed  by  one  group  of  employers 
against  another  employer  or  group  of  employers  is  given  more 
favorable  consideration  by  the  courts  than  is  one  directed  by 
labor  organizations.  A  Pennsylvania  decision  was  to  the 
effect  that  employers  may  lawfully  combine  to  resist  an 
advance  in  wages  and  may  refuse  and  advise  others  to  refuse 
to  sell  to  parties  conceding  such  an  advance.  A  New  York 
court  maintained  that  the  "refusal  to  sell  to  dealers  who  will 
not  maintain  a  uniform  price  is  not  an  actionable  boycott/' 
Other  courts  have  held  the  trade  boycott  to  be  illegal.' 

The  usual  remedy  of  the  courts  in  the  case  of  a  decision 
against  the  boycott  or  the  unfair  list  is  the  injunction.  The 
use  of  the  injunction  is  a  conspicuous  factor  in  recent  legal 
proceedings  in  connection  with  labor  disputes.  In  such  cases 
an  injunction  is  a  command  by  a  court  exercising  equity  juris- 
diction that  certain  persons  refrain  from  doing  certain  specified 
acts.  A  violation  of  the  order  may  be  punished  as  contempt  of 
court  by  fine  or  imprisonment.  Trial  by  jury  is  not  allowed. 
The  judge  issues  the  order,  determines  whether  the  order  has 
been  disobeyed,  and  fixes  the  penalty  for  disobedience.  The 
executive  and  the  legislative  branch  have  practically  been 
stripp>ed  of  the  power  to  inflict  punishment  upon  those  who 
disobey  their  mandates;  but  the  judicial  arm  of  government 
still  clings  to, that  right.^  Organized  labor  demands  that 
the  extraordinary  equity  powers  of  the  courts  be  reduced  and 
that  trial  by  jury  be  allowed  in  contempt  of  court  proceed- 
ings.    The  constitution  of   Oklahoma  provides   that  every 

^  Report  of  the  Industrial  Commission.     Vol.  17:  cxix,  591. 
^  For  an  excellent  discussion  of  this  point,  see  Smith,  The  Spirit  of  American 
Government,  pp.  11 7-1 19. 


PI ' 

m 


rii 


\  1 


jfiii 


190    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

person  accused  of  violating  an  injunction  out  of  the  presence 
of  the  court  shall  be  entitled  to  trial  by  jury. 

The  Clayton  Anti-Trust  Act,  passed  in   1914,   contains 
certain  significant  clauses  relating  to  labor.     The  full  import 
of  this  legislation  will  not  be  apparent  until  further  interpreted 
by  the  courts.     It  is  probable,  however,  that  this  act  will 
not  make  essential  changes  in  the  legal  status  of  labor  or- 
ganizations.    Labor  leaders  have  been  insisting  that  labor 
is  not  a  commodity,  and  that  a  labor  organization  is  not  a 
trust.     Accordingly  labor   organizations   ought   not   to   be 
attacked  under  the  anti-trust  laws.     The  Clayton  Act  spe- 
cifically states  that  the  ^4abor  of  a  human  being  is  not  a 
commodity  or  article  of  commerce."      The  power  to  issue 
injunctions  in  case  of  labor  disputes  is  circumscribed  by  the 
Clayton  Act.     Among  other  things,  no  person  or  persons 
shall  be  restrained  by  injunction  ''from  doing  any  act  or 
thing  which  might  lawfully  be  done  in  the  absence  of  such 
dispute  by  a  party  thereto."     The  legality  of  an  act  per- 
formed in  a  labor  dispute,  therefore,  hinges  upon  its  legality 
in  the  absence  of  any  dispute.     Several  states  have  enacted 
laws  quite  similar  to  this  federal  act.     The  Clayton  Act  does 
not  change  in  any  material  way  the  laws  relating  to  con- 
spiracy.    A  decision  in  the  U.  S.  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals 
is  to  the  effect  that  the  Clayton  Act  legalizes  the  secondary 
boycott.  1    In  the  Hitchman  Coal  Company  case  decided  by 
the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court  in  191 7,  the  Court  sustained  an 
injunction  against  the   United  Mine   Workers.     The  union 
was  ordered  not  to  attempt  to  unionize  the  Hitchman  mines. 
This  company  required  employees  to  sign  contracts  not  to 
join  a  union  while  in  the  pay  of  the  company.     The  case  en- 
tered the  lower  courts  before  the  passage  of  the  Clayton  Act. 
A  similar  decision  was  handed  down  on  the  same  day  in  the 
Eagle  Glass  Company  case.^ 

»  Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.     No.  258,  p.  iii. 
-  Bulletin  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.    No.  246,  pp.  145-153. 


COERCIVE  METHODS 


191 


The  most  famous  cases  of  the  use  of  the  injuction  in  labor 
disputes  are  the  Debs  case  in  connection  with  the  railway 
strike  of  1894  and  the  Buck  Stove  and  Range  Company  case 
in  which  three  high  officials  of  the  American  Federation  of 
Labor  —  Samuel  Gompers,  John  Mitchell,  and  Frank  Mor- 
rison—  were  sentenced  to  imprisonment  for  disobeying  the 
orders  of  the  court.  The  former  difficulty  originated  in  the 
works  of  the  Pullman  Car  Company  and  spread  as  a  sympa- 
thetic strike  to  nearly  all  the  railway  lines  radiating  from 
Chicago.  The  general  public  was  greatly  inconvenienced, 
interstate  commerce  was  interfered  with,  and  the  mails  were 
delayed.  Much  violence  and  destruction  of  property  ac- 
companied the  strike.  A  ''blanket"  injunction  was  issued 
by  a  federal  court  enjoining  the  officers  of  the  American  Rail- 
way Union  and  ''all  other  persons"  from  interfering  with  the 
transportation  of  the  mails  and  with  the  flow  of  interstate 
commerce.  Disobedience  of  this  inclusive  order  was  pun- 
ishable as  contempt  of  court.  Interference  with  the  trans- 
portation of  the  United  States  mail  is  a  crime  under  the  federal 
statutes,  but  the  accused  under  the  statute  law  would  be 
allowed  a  trial  by  jury. 

The  Buck  Stove  and  Range  Company  became  involved  in  a 
dispute  with  the  molders  employed  by  the  company.  A  strike 
followed  and  a  boycott  was  instituted  against  the  products  of 
the  company.  TIte  American  Federationist,  the  official  organ 
of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  included  the  name  of 
this  firm  in  its  "We  don't  Patronize"  list.  It  was  held 
that  the  ofiicials  and  members  of  the  Federation  had  acted 
concertedly  against  the  company  for  the  following  purposes: 
(i)  to  bring  about  a  breach  of  the  company's  contracts 
with  others;  (2)  to  deprive  the  company  of  property  (good 
will  in  business)  without  due  process  of  law;  (3)  to  restrain 
trade  among  the  several  states;  and  (4)  to  restrain  commerce 
between  the  several  states,     (i)  and  (2)  were  held  to  consti- 


>^ 


i 


% 


I 

■   <    ' 

111 


5 


vi'. 


U 


i^h 


'\ 


192    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

tute  conspiracy  under  the  common  law;  and  (3)  and  (4)  to  be 
actionable  under  the  statute  law,  —  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law 
and  inter-state  commerce  acts.^    A  sweeping  injunction  was 
granted  in  the  courts  of  the  District  of  Columbia  forbidding 
the  officers  and  agents  of  the  Federation  from  interfering 
in  any  way  with  the  business  of  the  company;   from  print- 
ing and  distributing  copies  of  The  American  Federationist 
or  any  printed  or  written  instrument  ''which  shall  contain  or 
in  any  manner  refer  to  the  name  of  the  complainant,  its 
business,  or  its  product  in  the  "We  don't  Patronize"  or  the 
"Unfair"  list;   from  calling  attention  ''in  writing  or  orally'' 
to  the  boycott  against  the  firm.^    Three  officers  of  the  Fed- 
eration were  declared  to  have  violated  the  injunction  and 
were  3entenced  to  imprisonment  for  terms  of  one  year,  nine 
months,  and  six  months  respectively.     This  judgment  was 
reaffirmed  by  the  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals,  although  the 
terms  of  the  injunction  were  slightly  modified.    One  judge 
dissented. 

The  case  was  then  taken  to  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court.  The  sentenced  men  were  not  imprisoned  pending 
the  final  action  of  the  highest  court  of  the  land.  In  July, 
1910,  the  president  of  the  company  having  died,  it  was  an- 
nounced that  a  settlement  of  the  differences  between  organized 
labor  and  the  company  had  been  made;  and  that  all  legal 
action  on  the  part  of  the  company  against  the  Federation 
would  be  withdrawn.  Lawyers  for  the  American  Anti-Boycott 
Association,  which  was  associated  with  the  company  in  the 
suit  and  had  "borne  the  entire  expense"  of  it,  announced  that 
the  case  would  not  be  dropped.^ 

An  interesting  dissenting  opinion  of  a  circuit  court  judge 
in  Northwestern  Ohio  is  worthy  of  notice.     A  hotel  in  Toledo 

*  See  Bulletin  of  Bureau  of  Labor.    No.  80:  128. 
'  Ibid.     No.  74:  254. 

»  After  a  long  period  of  litigation  this  case  was  dismissed  by  the  Supreme 
Court  upon  a  technicality. 


COERCIVE    METHODS 


193 


became  involved  in  a  dispute  with  some  of  its  employees  who 
were  members  of  a  local  union  of  the  Hotel  and  Restaurant 
Employees,  and  was  declared  to  be  "unfair.'*  Members  of 
the  union  picketed  the  hotel  and  requested  people  not  to 
patronize  its  bar  or  restaurant.  Printed  cards  were  distrib- 
uted upon  the  pubfic  streets  calling  attention  to  the  boycott. 
A  common  pleas  court  judge  refused  to  grant  an  injunction 
restraining  members  of  the  union  from  picketing  the  hotel 
and  attempting  to  dissuade  people  from  patronizing  it.  The 
case  was  then  taken  to  a  higher  court ;  and  the  Circuit  Court 
in  January,  1911,  granted  the  permanent  injunction  demanded 
by  the  hotel  proprietor.  But  one  of  the  three  judges  dis- 
sented most  emphatically  *'I  want  to  say,"  declared  the 
judge  in  his  opinion,  "with  all  the  seriousness  and  emphasis 
at  my  command,  that  in  my  humble  opinion  the  reckless  use 
of  the  writ  of  injunction  is  itself  producing  an  injury  which 
may  well  be  described  as  *  irreparable. '  I  refer  to  the  impair- 
ing of  the  confidence  of  the  people  generally  in  the  courts. 
We  have  certainly  reached  the  danger  fine.  ...  In  my  opin- 
ion, no  court  in  Ohio  has  the  power  to  restrain,  by  injunction, 

the  fiber ty  of  speech  or  of  the  press It  is  a  fact  that 

practically  all  of  the  encroachments  upon  the  right  of  free 
speech  and  a  free  press,  up  to  date,  have  been  made  by  the 
courts  themselves  —  the  sworn  defenders  of  the  constitution. " 
The  injunction  is  extremely  important  because  it  involves 
(i)  a  denial  of  the  right  to  trial  by  jury  in  case  the  injunction 
is  disobeyed.  The  frequent  resort  to  the  injunction  gives 
ground  for  the  suspicion  that  the  injunction  is  often  merely  a 
subterfuge  for  avoiding  a  jury  trial.  (2)  It  led  in  the  Buck 
Stove  and  Range  Company  case  to  an  apparent  denial  of  the 
right  to  print  certain  facts,  thus  interfering  with  the  freedom 
of  the  press  guaranteed  by  the  first  amendment  to  the  federal 
constitution.  (3)  The  constitutional  right  to  freedom  of 
speech  is  also  apparently  denied  in  certain  cases.     The  court's 


<1 


m 


} 


.t  ( 

1 


■i? 


I'.  I 


h 


194     HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

answer  to  this  plea  that  the  constitutional  guarantee  of  free- 
dom of  press  and  speech  are  impaired  is  as  follows:  ^'WTiat- 
ever  in  writing,  print,  or  speech  violates  a  legal  right  of  another 
is  unlawful,"  ....  consequently,  -it  ought  to  be  enjoined 
m  advance,  if"  ....  it  "so  invades  rights  of  property  as 
that  the  law  affords  no  remedy  adequate  to  compensate  for 
the  results,"  or  if  a  good  name  may  be  ^'rescued  from  pre- 
conceived   despoilment:"'     (4)    In   the   fourth  place,   it  is 
generally  conceded  that  a  business  may  be  lawfully  injured 
by  competition,  or  by  the  exposure  of  facts  relating  to  the 
conduct  of  the  enterprise.     It  is  not,  however,  beyond  the 
bounds  of  reason  to  inquire:  Do  the  decisions  in  the  boy- 
cott cases,  known  as  the  Buck  Stove  and  Range  case  and  the 
Danbury  Hatters'  case  indicate  that  the  exposure  of  facts 
as  to  a  business  may  be  adjudged  unlawful?    Has  a  person  or 
a  combination  of  persons  the  lawful  right  to  make  public  the 
fact  that  conditions  in  a  factory  or  a  store  are  insanitary? 
The  business  will  be  injured  and  the  flow  of  interstate  com- 
merce may  be  modified.     If  a  true  statement  is  sent  broad- 
cast that  a  grocer  doing  an  interstate  business  keeps  whisky 
for  sale  in  his  basement  or  that  he  mixes  sand  with  the  sugar 
which  he  offers  for  sale,  could  the  grocer  obtain  an  injunction 
restraining  the  circulation  of  such  statements?    Is  the  right 
to  do  business  a  property  right?    Labor  leaders  are  not  alone 
m  their  attitude  of  opposition  to  the  gradual  increase  in  the 
power  of  the  courts  through  the  use  of  the  injunction.     The 
matter  is  worthy  of  very  careful  consideration  by  all  friends 
of  democracy. 

The  Blacklist.  An  association  of  employers  may  prepare 
and  circulate  a  list  of  employees  who  have  gone  on  a  strike  or 
who  have  been  discharged  because  of  acrivity  in  labor  organ- 
izations. Men  whose  names  appear  on  such  a  list  will  not 
be  employed  by  members  of  the  association.    This  pracrice 

*  Bulletin  of  Bureau  of  Labor.  No.  80:  137. 


!? 


I  t 


COERCIVE    METHODS 


195 


is  known  as  blacklisting.  The  blacklist  is  the  employers' 
boycott  of  the  worker's  commodity,  —  labor.  A  clearance 
card  is  a  written  statement  given  to  employees  at  the  time 
they  leave  a  given  establishment.  This  card  may  also  be 
used  as  a  means  of  blacklisting.  Some  employers'  associa- 
tions maintain  a  sort  of  "employment  bureau"  in  which  are 
registered  the  names  of  the  employees  of  the  various  members 
of  the  association,  together  with  a  more  or  less  complete 
history  of  the  working  career  of  each  employee.  When  new 
employees  are  desired  the  records  of  the  bureau  are  studied. 
This  practice  is  "  whitelisting."  The  whitelist  is  a  "  negative 
boycott."  It  corresponds  in  a  measure  to  the  fair  list  of 
the  unions.  In  practice,  whitelisting  and  blacklisting  are 
reduced  to  a  common  denominator. 

Nearly  all  states  in  the  United  States  have  attempted  to 
prevent  blacklisting  by  statutory  provisions.  The  enforce- 
ment of  these  statutes  is  extremely  difficult.  It  is  difficult  to 
gather  definite  information  as  to  the  circulation  of  such  lists; 
and  so  many  plausible  reasons  may  be  given  for  not  employing 
a  workman  who  is  actually  blacklisted.  "  Though  there  are 
more  statutes  directly  aimed  at  blacklisting  than  at  boycotting 
the  courts  do  not  recognize  the  illegality  of  blacklisting  as 
clearly."  The  courts  have  held  railway  clearance  cards  to  be 
lawful  instruments;  but  the  legality  of  the  whitelist  is  not  de- 
termined. ^  A  New  York  court  has  ruled  that  a  trade  black- 
list is  not  unlawful.  A  United  States  statute  forbidding  an 
employer  engaged  in  interstate  commerce  to  discharge  an  em- 
ployee, because  of  membership  in  a  union,  was  declared  uncon- 
stitutional. A  federal  circuit  court  ruled  that  an  employer 
has  a  right  to  keep  a  book  containing  the  names  of  employees 
discharged  because  of  membership  in  a  union,  and  that  he 
may  lawfully  invite  inspection  of  the  book  by  other  employers.* 

iHuebner,  Blacklisting,  p.  19. 

*  Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor.     No.  50:  202-204. 


i 


'J 


r  ■• 


hi 


u 


196    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

An  Oklahoma  statute  provides  that  upon  request  of  a  dis- 
charged employee,  the  manager  of  any  pubhc  service  corpora- 
tion, or  contractor  working  for  such  corporation,  is  required 
to  issue  a  letter  giving  a  true  statement  of  the  cause  of  dis- 
charge, etc.    Very  precise  regulations  are  given  as  to  the 
paper  used,  the  place  of  signature,  and  the  use  of  any  charac- 
ters which  might  convey  secret  intelligence.     In  Georgia,  an 
act  similar  to  the  Oklahoma  law  was  declared  unconstitu- 
tional; while  in  Texas  such  legislation  has  been  held  to  be 
valid.     The  English  courts  follow,  with  slight  modifications, 
the  common  law  as  to  conspiracies  when  dealing  with  the 
blacklist.    Its  legality  may  be  said  to  depend  upon  the  intent. 
The  Union  Label.     The  union  label  is  a  mark  adopted  by  a 
labor  organization  and  placed  upon  the  products  made  by 
its  members.    Its  use  furm'shes  an  easy  method  of  discrim- 
inating between  union-made  goods  and  the  products  of  non- 
union, child,  or  convict  labor.     Through  the  use  of  the  union 
label  the  wage  earners  are  organized  as  consumers  as  well  as 
producers.    The  wise  use  of  the  consuming  power  by  the 
families  of  union  men  will  hasten  the  growth  and  increase  the 
efficiency  of  organized  labor.    The  workingmen  form  a  very 
important  class  of  consumers.     By  directing  their  demands 
into  proper  channels,  conditions  of  labor  may  be  greatly 
ameliorated.    The  demand  for  the  product  of  the  workers  in 
a  trade  depends  upon  the  wages  and  conditions  in  other  trades. 
If  the  workers  in  one  trade  persist  in  purchasing  goods  which 
are  produced  under  sweated  or  "unfair'^  conditions,  the  con- 
suming power  of  the  workers  in  the  other  trades  is  reduced. 
As  a  result,  the  demand  for  the  products  of  the  workers  in  the 
first  trade  is  also  reduced,  and  they  are  indirectly,  but  none 
the  less  surely,  made  to  feel  the  results  of  their  own  short- 
sighted action.     It  has  often  been  stated  that  **half  of  the 
battle  of  union  labor  would  be  won  if  only  the  union  man 
and  his  wife  would  in  every  instance  insist  on  the  label  on 


COERCIVE    METHODS 


197 


;!  I 


everything  they  purchase."  Another  argument  is  used  for  the 
purpose  of  reaching  a  wider  circle  of  consumers.  It  is  main- 
tained that  union-made  goods  are  produced  under  sanitary 
conditions  and  will  not  carry  infectious  diseases. 

Labor  organizations  have  not  as  yet  effectively  utilized 
their  latent  power  in  this  connection.  The  members  of  labor 
organizations  could  do  much  toward  preventing  scamping  and 
adulteration.  The  powerful  unions  in  the  building  trade 
might  do  much  toward  preventing  violations  of  the  building 
laws  in  cities.  The  wage  earners  live  in  many  buildings  which 
are  improperly  constructed;  and  often  pay  the  penalty  for 
faulty  construction.  The  producer  — the  workman  — by 
neglecting  to  oppose  bad  work  injures  his  brother  unionist 
who  consumes  the  product.  The  consumer  of  almost  any 
product  is  obliged  to  grope  in  the  dark  in  regard  to  the  quality 
of  his  purchases.  His  dependence  upon  the  word  or  the 
reputation  of  the  maker  or  the  seller  is  often  almost 
complete.  If  the  union  label  always  stood  for  good  work- 
manship, quality  as  represented,  and  obedience  to  legal  re- 
quirements; it  would  come  to  the  consumer  as  a  welcome  ray 
of  light  through  the  darkness  of  uncertainty  and  misrepre- 
sentation. It  would  not  be  impossible  to  make  the  union 
label,'' organized  labor's  most  powerful  weapon."  Organized 
labor  might  furnish  an  effective  check  upon  certain  varieties 
of  graft,  as,  for  example,  in  connection  with  public  or  private 
buildings.  Graft  is  primarily  a  disease  of  the  commercial 
world,  the  world  of  buying  and  selling,  as  distinct  from  the 
world  of  production. 

The  union  label  originated  in  the  United  States;  and  its  use 
is  almost  entirely  confined  to  this  country.  It  was  first  used 
by  the  cigar  makers  in  1874.  The  opposition  to  cheap  labor 
seems  to  have  been  a  factor  in  causing  its  adoption.  Many 
trades  now  use  the  label.  In  the  "union  label  gallery"  of  a 
labor  paper  are  noted  the  facsimiles  of  thirty-nine  labels. 


1 

41 


;;f 


)i 


198    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

Among  these  are  the  labels  of  the  United  Hatters,  the  Glove 
Workers,  the  Bread  Bakers,  and  the  Wood  Workers.  Labor 
leaders  are  making  a  campaign  of  education  in  regard  to 
the  label.  In  1904,  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  offered 
cash  prizes  for  the  best  essays  on  the  history  and  use  of  the 
label.  At  the  Toronto  meeting  of  the  Federation  in  1909, 
resolutions  were  adopted  recommending  that  all  affiliated 
imions  introduce  into  their  initiatory,  opening,  and  closing 
ceremonies,  some  reference  to  the  desirability  of  purchasing 
products  bearing  the  union  label.  In  1918,  the  committee 
on  union  labels  declared  that  *'we  cannot  too  strongly  im- 
press upon  our  fellow-workers  the  need  of  a  continual  and 
persistent  demand  for  union  made  goods.  Union  labor  is 
morally  bound  to  support  union  labor,  and  one  of  the  most 
practical  ways  to  do  this  is  to  spend  money  earned  under 
imion  conditions  only  for  commodities  made  and  distributed 
under  union  conditions.  Be  consistent  and  practice  what 
you  preach.''  In  1919,  51  labels  and  'lo  cards  were  issued 
by  organizations  affiliated  in  the  American  Federation  of 
Labor;  and  one  of  the  five  departments  was  the  Union  Label 
Trades  Department.  The  union  label  b  legally  not  a  boy- 
cott, and  its  use  is  lawful. 

Typical  Strikes.  In  the  late  Carroll  D.  Wright's  book 
entitled,  Industrial  Evolution  of  the  United  States^  and  pub- 
lished in  1895,  the  "historic  strikes"  considered  are,  with  two 
exceptions,  directly  connected  with  the  railways  of  the  nation. 
The  two  exceptions  are  the  telegraphers'  strike  of  1883  and  the 
Homestead  strike  in  1892.  The  three  most  important  strikes 
before  the  opening  of  the  present  century  were  the  railway 
strike  of  1877,  the  Homestead  strike,  and  the  railway  strike 
of  1894.  Each  of  these  strikes  was  marked  by  dangerous 
rioting  and  by  the  destruction  of  property.  State  miUtia 
were  used  in  each  case,  and  United  States  troops  in  the  strike 
of  1894.    The  strike  of  1877  made  the  people  of  the  United 


if 


COERCIVE    METHODS 


199 


States  realize  for  the  first  time  that  strikes  and  other  disputes 
between  labor  and  the  newly-formed  aggregations  of  capital 
presented  problems  of  national  importance.  In  the  strike  of 
1894  the  right  of  the  federal  government  acting  under  the 
anti-trust,  the  interstate  commerce,  and  the  postal  laws  to 
intervene  in  the  case  of  strikes  and  boycotts,  was  for  the  first 
time  clearly  asserted. 

In  the  anthracite  coal  strike  of  1902,  a  well  disciplined 
union,  composed  of  men  of  various  nationalities  and  degrees  of 
skill  was  so  controlled  that  the  amount  of  violence  was  com- 
paratively small.  The  stoppage  of  the  source  of  supply  of  a 
necessity  in  the  homes  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  people 
made  this  local  strike  of  personal  importance  to  the  citizens  of 
the  nation.  President  Roosevelt  used  extra-legal  authority 
to  bring  about  a  settlement  in  order  that  the  coal  bins  might 
be  filled.  In  the  State  of  New  York,  the  democratic  party 
went  on  record  through  their  party  platform  as  favoring 
government  ownership  of  coal  mines.  The  mining  troubles  of 
Colorado,  culminating  in  the  Cripple  Creek  strike  of  1903- 
1904,  occurred  in  a  community  not  far  removed  from  frontier 
conditions,  yet  industrially  organized  ahead  of  its  time.  The 
admixture  of  foreign  elements  in  the  Western  Federation  of 
Miners  was  not  important,  but  class  fines  were  strictly  drawn. 
Mining  was  the  basic  industry;  when  "mining  ceased,  busi- 
ness ceased."  The  entire  community  was  forced  to  align 
itself  on  one  side  or  the  other.  In  the  mining  district  of 
Colorado,  a  bitter  class  struggle  —  true  industrial  warfare  — 
took  place.  Strong  class-conscious  labor  unions  faced  as 
strongly  class-conscious  employers'  associations;  and  the  cit- 
izens and  the  local  and  state  governments  were  forced  into 
the  struggle.  "There  do  not  lack  of  indications  of  a  general 
current  sweeping  the  entire  nation  to  such  a  final  issue.  .  .  . 
It  may  well  be  that  in  the  throes  of  the  Cripple  Creek  conflict 
lie  auguries  of  the  future,  lessons  for  both  parties   to  the 


•n 


■i> 


'■  > 


J! 
If 


■  I 


200    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

strife,  and  for  the  'powers  that  be'  in  state,  in  county,  and 
in  town.  "^ 

The  Great  Lakes  Dispute  between  the  various  seaman *s 
unions  on  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  Lake  Carriers'  Association 
caused  a  strike  which  began  in  1909  and  continued  through 
1 9 10.  The  passenger  lines  were  not  involved  in  the  dispute. 
The  conflict  hinged  on  the  open  shop  principle.  The  organ- 
ized employers  were  determined  to  enforce  the  open  shop; 
they  refused  to  confer  with  the  representatives  of  organized 
labor.  The  efforts  of  the  National  Civic  Federation  and  of 
several  state  boards  of  arbitration  were  unavailing.  In  order 
to  effectively  carry  out  the  open  shop  policy  the  employers 
proposed  a  "welfare  plan."  Each  seaman  upon  payment  of 
fee  of  one  dollar,  receives  a  discharge  book.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  season,  the  seaman  must  deposit  this  book  with  the 
captain  of  the  vessel.  At  the  end  of  the  season,  it  is  returned 
to  him  for  use  next  season  with  an  entry  "fair"  or  "good," 
unless  the  captain  is  dissatisfied  with  the  work  of  the  seaman. 
In  the  latter  case,  the  book  is  returned  to  the  Lake  Carriers' 
Association.  This  system,  called  in  derision  the  "hell-fare" 
plan,  is  evidently  well  calculated  to  allow  the  employers  of 
seamen  to  weed  out  all  union  men  and  to  increase  the  sub- 
serviency of  their  employees.  It  is  in  reality  a  gigantic  black 
list,  although  in  theory  it  is  a  white  list.  The  President  of  the 
Lake  Carriers'  Association  has  stated,  however,  that  the  plan 
was  devised  "with  the  firm  belief  and  conviction  that  it  was 
in  the  interest  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  men  employed  to  join 
it.  .  .  .  We  have  men  employed  who  are  not  members." 
The  Great  Lakes  struggle  is  symptomatic  of  the  growing 
antagonism  between  certain  employers'  associations  and  labor 
unions;  the  fundamental  aim  of  the  Lake  Carriers'  Association 
is  to  stamp  out  unionism  among  the  employees  of  its  members. 

1  Rastall,  **The  History  of  the  Cripple  Creek  Strike,"  Bulletin  of  the 
University  of  Wisconsin.     1908. 


I  f 


COERCIVE    METHODS 


201 


The  McKees  Rocks  strike  in  the  Pressed  Steel  Car  Works    )^ 
was  a  strike  possessing   very  different   characteristics   than 
any  preceding  important  American  labor  dispute.    The  com- 
pany's force  consisted  of  about  1,200  skilled  mechanics  and 
about  3,500  semi-skilled  and  unskilled  workers,  of  whom  the 
majority  were  immigrants  from  various  European  countries. 
The  treatment  accorded  these  workers  by  the  company  was 
little  short  of  inhuman;  at  last  the  unorganized  and  undis- 
cipUned  horde  suddenly  struck.    One  investigator  stated  that 
*'it  was  simply  a  united  claim  on  the  part  of  unskilled,  ignorant 
'Hunkies'  for  justice,  and  the  Americans  stood  with  them." 
After  the  strike  began,  the  men  were  organized,  a  fair  degree 
of  order  was  maintained,  and  the  task  of  financing  the  strike 
performed  in  an  efficient  manner.    A  spirit  of  solidarity  among 
the  wage  earners  was  manifested  which  indicates  that  indus- 
trial unionism  is  an  aggressive  and  efficient  form  of  labor 
organization.     The  company,  at  first  defiant,  finally  yielded. 
The  strikers  were  taken  back,  and  some  concessions  were 
granted.    The  ''first  great  woman's  strike"  occurred  in  New 
York  City  in  the  winter  of  1909-1910,  among  the  shirt-waist, 
makers.    This  was  a  strike  of  women  in  an  occupation  within 
what  has  been  traditionally  called  "woman's  sphere";  and  it 
was  a  strike  involving  women  of  several  different  nationali- 
ties.   Women  were  fined  and  sent  to  the  workhouse  by  city 
judges  for  picketing.     The  strikers  published  and  circulated 
rules  in  regard  to  lawful  picketing.     Women  pickets  were 
attacked  by  "prostitutes  paid  high  for  stirring  up  trouble 
with  the  pickets."^    The  Women's  Trade  Union   League, 
certain  wealthy  women,  and  young  college  girls  aided  the 
working  women  in  the  fight.    After  about  three  months  the 
employers  gave  up  the  struggle  and  conceded  practically  all 
that  the  workers  demanded.     The  employers,  members  of 
the  Associated  Waist  and  Dress  Manufacturers,  had  refused 

»  Sumner,  The  Survey.    January  22,  1910,  p.  553. 


■.,v    ♦ 

'1  ': 


ii. 


202    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

to  arbitrate  the  points  at  issue.  The  successful  termination 
of  this  strike  of  about  thirty  thousand  poor  Jewish,  Italian, 
and  American  working  girls  through  three  months  of  cold 
weather  proves  that  women  workers  can  be  organized  under 
pressure  into  effective  labor  organizations. 

The  spontaneity  of  action  on  the  part  of  unorganized  or 
partially  organized  workers  which  characterized  the  McKees 
Rocks  strike  and  that  of  the  shirt-waist  makers  was  mani- 
fested in  other  strikes  of  the  year  1910.     In  the  strike  at  the 
Bethlehem  Steel  Company's  plant  the  workers  were  unorgan- 
ized; but  unlike  the  McKees  Rocks  strike,  the  struggle  was 
precipitated  by  the  skilled  workers.    The  Cloak  and  Suit 
Makers'  strike  in  New  York  City  in  the  summer  of  1910  led 
to  rapid  organization,  and  the  chief  point  at  issue  became  the 
question  of  the  closed  shop.     In  the  conduct  of  the  strike 
the  principles  of  industrial  imionism  rather  than  those  of 
trade  unionism  were  adopted.    All  workers  in  the  industry 
went  on   a  strike.    The  street  car  strike  in  Philadelphia 
became  almost  a  general  strike,  many  organized  and  unorgan- 
ized workers  went  out  on  a  sympathetic  strike.    The  strike 
of  the  workers  living  in  the  "model  village"  of  Ludlow, 
Massachusetts,  and  working  for  the  Ludlow  Manufacturing 
Associates,  is  another  excellent  example  of  soHdarity  among 
unorganized  and  semi-skilled  workers.     Unanimity  of  action 
grew  out  of  a  mass  meeting  called  to  discuss  the  grievances  of 
the  working  people.    The  strike  of  the  Garment  Workers  of 
Chicago  (1910-1911)  is  another  example  of  an  uprising  of  the 
unskilled  and  unorganized.     Without  any  definite  organiza- 
tion at  its  inception,  the  strike  spread  until  it  affected  40,000 
or  more  workers  and  a  multitude  of  shops.     These  strikers 
placed  little  confidence  in  leaders.    They  rejected  proposals 
assented  to  by  the  President  of  the  Chicago  Federation  of 
Labor  and  by  the  President  of  the  United  Garment  Workers. 
One  observer  stated:  —  "They  have  faith  only  in  themselves. 


COERCIVE  METHODS 


203 


111 


.  .  .  They  want  a  union  of  workers  and  not  of  leaders." 
Evidently  the  newer  form  of  industrial  unionism  is  impreg- 
nated with  a  feeling  of  intense  democracy.  Out  of  this  tur- 
moil in  the  clothing  industry  soon  arose  the  new  and  highly 
democratic  union,  the  Amalgamated  Clothing  Workers. 

In  1913,  a  strike  among  a  group  of  casual  laborers  in 
California  for  the  first  time  focussed  the  attention  of  the 
American  people  upon  the  conditions  under  which  the  mem- 
bers of  the  great  army  of  migratory  laborers  earn  their  living. 
Nearly  3,000  hop  pickers  were  camped  on  one  ranch.  There 
were  few  toilets,  bad  sanitary  conditions,  no  garbage  disposal, 
and  no  water  was  sent  into  the  fields.  Local  stores  were  not 
allowed  to  send  delivery  wagons  to  the  camp  grounds.  One 
grocery  only  was  allowed  in  the  camp,  and  from  this  store 
the  owner  of  the  ranch  received  profits.  The  wage  rate 
varied  with  the  nimaber  looking  for  work.  Agitation  among 
this  motley  crew  suddenly  came  to  the  surface;  a  sheriff's 
posse  was  called  and  bloodshed  followed.^ 

Colorado  was  again  in  1913-1914,  the  scene  of  a  fierce  in- 
dustrial struggle.  In  this  instance  the  strike  was  in  the  coal 
mining  district  of  the  state,  and  the  union  concerned  was  the 
United  Mine  Workers.  This  bitter  struggle  which  practically 
resulted  in  civil  war  and  in  much  bloodshed,  disclosed  certain 
evils  fairly  typical  of  isolated  mining  camps.  A  considerable 
percentage  of  the  workers  lived  in  ''closed  camps  or  towns'* 
in  which  the  mining  company  owned  all  the  land  and  build- 
ings, —  miner's  houses,  churches,  stores,  school  and  saloon 
buildings.  Reliable  testimony  indicated  that  before  the 
strike  political  freedom  was  a  farce  in  the  coal  mining  dis- 
tricts involved  in  the  strike.  Union  men  and  others  main- 
tained that  the  operators  had  disregarded  many  of  the  laws  of 
Colorado.  While  a  number  of  issues  were  presented,  funda- 
mentally the  struggle  hinged  upon  the  question  of  collective 

^  Parker,  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  November,  1915. 


/ 


■ft 


\\\ 


204    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

bargaining.     The  United  Mine  Workers  wished  to  put  iiito 
effect  in  Colorado  the  bargaining  methods  which  were  in  use 
in  many  other  coal  mining  districts  of  the  United  States. 
The  operators  refused  to  concede   the   right  of    collective 
bargaining,  and  intimated  that  the  United  Mine  Workers 
was  a  ''criminal  organization."     Soon  after  the  strike  was 
declared,  the  miners  were  evicted  from  their  homes.     Tent 
colonies  were  then  pitched  near  the  mines  or  entrance  to  the 
canons  leading  to  the  mines.     Strikebreakers  were  obliged 
to  pass  close  to  these  colonies  in  order  to  get  to  the  mines. 
At  one  of  the  tent  colonies  occurred  the  ''Ludlow  battle" 
between  the  miners  and  the  state  militia.     After  this  struggle, 
United  States  regulars  were  sent  into  the  strike  district  to 
maintain  order.     It  is  quite  clear  that  closed  company  towns 
and  autocratic  control  over  the  working  and  home  life  of 
workers  are  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  American  institutions, 
and  furnish  fuel  for  dangerous  and  anti-social  conditions. 
The  copper  strikes  in  Michigan  in  1913  and  in  Arizona  in 
19 1 6  and  19 17,  the  strikes  in  the  coal  fields  of  West  Virginia, 
and  in  other  mining  districts,  all  tend  to  prove  the  accuracy 
of  this  observation.^ 

In  the  first  half  of  the  year  1919  occurred  two  strikes 
which  possess  the  marks  of  general  strikes  in  restricted  areas  — 
in  Seattle  and  in  Winnipeg.  The  Seattle  strike  lasted  about 
six  days;  the  Winnipeg  strike  approximately  six  weeks.  In 
Seattle,  the  difficulty  took  the  form  of  a  sympathetic  strike 
to  help  the  metal  workers;  in  Winnipeg,  to  help  the  metal 
trades  and  the  workers  in  the  building  trades.  Wages  and 
hours  were  involved  in  both,  and,  in  Winnipeg,  collective 

1  For  references,  see  Fitch,  The  Survey,  December  5,  1914;  Seligman,  The 
Annalist,  May  4,  1914;  West's  Report  to  the  Commission  on  Industrial  Re- 
lations; Robinson,  The  Indepettdent,  May  11,  1914;  Taylor,  The  Survey, 
November  i,  1913;  Report  of  the  President's  Mediation  Commission  in  The 
Annual  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  Labor,  1918;  Gleason,  The  Nation, 
May  29,  1920. 


COERCIVE   METHODS 


205 


bargaining;  "but  in  both  cities  ominous  forebodings  of  an 
irrepressible  conflict,  instinctive  response  to  rallying  class 
cries,  and  a  searching  of  hearts  as  to  what  loyalty,  patriotism 
and  civic  obligations  imply,  were  always  visibly  in  the  back- 
ground and  eventually  in  the  foreground."  ^  In  both  cases, 
there  were  also  signs  of  a  struggle  within  the  ranks  of  labor 
between  the  orthodox  unionists  and  insurgents  of  a  radical 
t>'pe.  The  Seattle  authorities  were  ready  for  emergencies 
in  case  some  one  began  to  use  violence. 

The  steel  strike  of  1919  was  a  concerted  attempt  on  the 
part  of  a  group  of  twenty-four  national  unions,  sided  by  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor,  to  force  the  United  States 
Steel  Corporation  and  certain  mdependent  companies  to 
accept  the  principle  of  collective  bargaining  and  to  recognize 
organized  labor.  The  eight-hour  day,  the  six-day  week, 
and  the  abolition  of  the  twenty-four  hour  shift,  were  also 
among  the  demands  of  organized  labor.  It  should  be  noted 
that  these  three  demands  and  the  right  of  collective  bar- 
gaining were  favored  by  the  National  War  Labor  Board. 
One  of  the  real  points  at  issue  undoubtedly  was  the  right  of 
discussion  in  the  "steel  towns"  of  the  Pittsburgh  district 
These  towns  were  evidently  as  much  under  the  control  of  the 
steel  companies  as  were  the  "closed  towns"  of  the  mining 
districts  under  the  control  of  the  mine  operators.  The  steel 
strike  was  technically  lost;  but  organized  labor  gained  much 
encouragement  from  this  vigorous  assault  upon  the  great 
anti-union  iron  and  steel  industry. 

In  the  autumn  of  1919,  the  collective  bargaining  system 
which  had  been  in  successful  operation  for  a  number  of  years 
in  the  bituminous  coal  industry,  temporarily  at  least,  broke 
down.  A  strike  involving  over  400,000  miners  began  No- 
vember I,  1919.  The  chief  demands  were  for  a  six-hour 
day,  a  five-day  week,  and  a  sixty  per  cent  increase  in  wages. 

»  Devine,  The  Survey,  October  4,  1919. 


/ 


'■■'  f 


iff 


I* 


206    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

The  demand  for  a  thirty-hour  week  was  not  as  extreme  as 
it  might  seem  to  persons  unacquainted  with  the  statistics  of 
the  soft  coal  mining  industry.     The  United  States  Geological 
Survey  reports  that  the  highest  average  number  of  days 
worked  per  year  in  that  industry  from  1910  to  1918,  inclusive, 
was  249  and  the  lowest,  195.     For  the  fifty  weeks  from  the 
armistice  to  October  25,  1918,  the  average  number  of  hours 
worked  per  week  was  thirty.    Acting  under  the  sanction  of 
war  legislation  in  force  at  that  time,  a  federal  judge  in  In- 
dianapolis promptly  granted  an  injunction  restraining  the 
officials  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  from  directing  the  strike, 
and  tieing  up  the  large  strike  fund  of  the  organization.     On 
November  8,  the  judge  ordered  the  officials  of  the  miners  to 
recall  the  strike  order.    This  was  obeyed;    but  the  miners 
did  not  return  to  work.     Later,  steps  were  taken  to  institute 
contempt  of  court  proceedings  against  the  leaders  of  the 
miners.     Finally,   the  organization  accepted  a  proposal  of 
President  Wilson,  to  the  effect  that  the  miners  were  to  receive 
an  immediate  advance  in   wages  of   14  per  cent,  and  the 
question  of  further  increases  be  left  to  an  arbitration  com- 
mittee appointed  by  the  President.    After  about  six  weeks 
cessation  from  mining  the  men  went  back  to  work.     This 
strike  threw  into  clear  relief  three  facts:    (i)  An  injunction 
will  not  get  coal  mined.     Goodwill  and  good  management  in 
industry,  not  governmental  coercion,  must  be  depended  upon 
to  get  results.     (2)  The  absolute  dependence  of  the  nation 
upon  the  continuous  and  efficient  functioning  of  key  indus- 
tries was  made  exceedingly  plain  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States.     (3)  The  soft  coal  mining  industry  has  been  "a  mis- 
managed industry."    If  the  coal  operators  cannot  regularize 
their  business  and  reduce  enormous  waste,  they  must  prepare 
for  a  vigorous  demand  for  the  nationalization  of  the  mines.^ 

*  Polakov,  "Coal:  A  Mismanaged  Industry,"  The  Dial,  November  i,  1919. 


COERCIVE  METHODS 


REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 


207 


Sixteenth  and  Twenty-first  Annual  Reports  of  the  Commissioner  of 
Labor. 

Report  of  the  Industrial  Commission.     Vols.  17  and  19. 

Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  of  Wisconsin.     1905-1906. 

The  Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science, 
September,  1910,  contains  several  articles  on  the  general  subject,  "The 
Settlement  of  Labor  Disputes." 

Huebner,  Boycotting  and  Blacklisting.  Bulletins  issued  by  the  Wis- 
consin Free  Library  Commission. 

Mitchell,  Organized  Labor.     Chs.  33-39. 

Adams  and  Sumner,  Labor  Problems.     Ch.  6. 

Bolen,  Getting  a  Living.     Chs.  9  and  20. 

Adams,  "Violence  in  Labor  Disputes,"  Publications  of  the  American 
Economic  Association,  February,  1906. 

Farnam,  "The  Quantitative  Study  of  the  Labor  Movement,"  ibid. 

Boyle,  "Organized  Labor  and  Court  Decisions."     The  Forum.    Vol. 

42:  535  (1909)- 

Hoxie,    "The  Trade-Union   Point   of  View,"    Journal   of  Political 

Economy.    Vol.  15:  345-363. 

Johnson,  "Injunctions  in  Labor  Disputes,"  in  American  Railway 
Transportation.     Pp.  396-401  (2nd  edition). 

Bliss,  New  Encyclopedia  of  Social  Reform.  Article  on  strikes  and 
boycotts. 

Buchanan,  Story  of  a  Labor  Agitator. 

Hall,  Sympathetic  Strikes  and  Sympathetic  Lockouts. 

Gomf>ers,  "The  Boycott,"  American  Federation ist.    November,  1907. 

Boyle,  "The  Union  Label,"  American  Journal  of  Sociology.  Vol. 
9:  163-172. 

Spedden,    "The   Trade   Union   Label,"   Johns   Hopkins    University 

Studies,     (1909.) 

Wright,  Industrial  Evolution  of  the  United  States.     Chs.  25  and  26. 

Janes,  The  Control  of  Strikes  in  American  Trade  Unions.  Johns 
Hopkins  University  Publications. 

Wolman,  The  Boycott  in  American  Trade  Unions.  Johns  Hopkins 
University  Publications. 

Groat,  Attitude  of  American  Courts  in  Labor  Cases. 

Laidler,  Boycotts  and  the  Labor  Struggle. 

Hunter,  Violence  and  the  Labor  Movement.     Ch.  11. 


i 


lit 


i 


;f1 


208    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

Groat,  Organized  Labor  in  America.     Chs.  lo,  n,  14  and  15. 
Harvey  and  Bradford,  Manual  of  the  Federal   Trade  Commission. 
Ch.  14. 

Pouget,  Sabotage. 

Hamilton,  Current  Economic  Problems.    Material  on  Sabotage. 

Levine,  "Direct  Action,"  The  Forum,  May,  191 2.      Vol.  17:   577. 


CHAPTER  Vm 

INDUSTRIAL   REMUNERATION 

What  is  a  ''Fair  Wage''?  The  discussion  of  the  methods  of 
industrial  remuneration  leads  inevitably  to  the  consideration 
of  the  proper  basis  of  a  just  or  fair  wage.  No  elaborate 
discussion  of  a  theory  of  wages  should  find  a  place  in  a  study 
of  the  problems  confronting  organized  labor;  but  it  is  fitting 
and  important  that  some  consideration  be  given  to  the  ques- 
tion of  the  determination  of  a  fair  wage.  In  medieval  times 
this  important  consideration  was  easily  and  summarily  dis- 
posed of  by  means  of  the  inelastic  measuring  rod  of  status  or 
of  class  distinction.  Medieval  writers  and  jurists  were  very 
clear  in  their  conception  of  fair  prices  and  fair  wages.  "  Man, 
they  taught,  had  been  placed  by  God  in  ranks  or  orders, 
each  with  its  work  to  do,  and  each  with  its  own  appropriate 
mode  of  life.  That  gain  was  justified,  and  that  only  which 
was  sought  in  order  that  a  man  might  provide  for  himself  a 
fit  sustenance  in  his  own  rank. "  ^  A  man  could  easily 
determine  for  himself,  without  resort  to  technicalities  or  courts 
of  arbitration,  the  proper  price  for  commodities  or  labor  time 
by  calculating  what  was  needed  to  support  himself  and  his 
family  in  accordance  with  his  status  in  life.  Each  class  in 
the  community  had  its  own  rather  definite  and  customary 
standard  of  living;  and  the  summit  of  personal  ambition  was 
success  within  a  limited  social  and  economic  sphere  rather 
than  that  of  progress  from  one  class  to  the  next  higher.  Ambi- 
tion was  curbed  and  chastened  by  the  great  fact  of  birth 

>  Ashley,  Economic  History  and  Theory,  Book  2:  389. 

209 


fl 


h 


2IO    raSTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

within  a  given  social  compartment.     Prices  and  wages  were 
to  be  so  regulated  as  to  maintain  class  immobility. 

With  the  downfall  of  medievalism  and  the  passing  of 
mercantilism  came  the  rise  of  the  laissezfaire  philosophy.  It 
was  assumed  that  prices,  rates,  and  wages  were  fixed  automati- 
cally by  the  ceaseless  action  of  free  and  untrammeled  compe- 
tition. The  question  of  wages  offered  no  difficulties  provided 
free  competition  was  not  interfered  with.  But,  today,  the  ex- 
istence of  numerous  rate  and  arbitration  commissions  is  a  con- 
crete and  unmistakable  warning  that  competition  is  not  the 
active,  living,  vital  force  or  principle  that  economic  theory  has 
often  so  vividly  and  enthusiastically  pictured.  The  various 
and  sundry  attempts  to  fix  fair  prices,  living  wages,  and  reason- 
able rates  unmistakably  point  to  the  general  acceptance  of  the 
view  that  competition  does  not  act  as  many  economic  theo- 
rists have  dogmatically  argued.  Day  after  day  the  compet- 
itive field  is  being  gradually  narrowed.  In  the  economic  field 
the  investigator  of  today  may  find  a  variety  of  returns  many 
of  which  were  unknown  in  the  idealistic  realm  pictured  by  the 
classical  and  other  economists.  At  present  every  thinking 
person  recognizes  that  certain  lines  of  industrial  activity  are 
in  a  large  measure  outside  the  competitive  sphere.  For  ex- 
ample, railway  and  street  railway  fares,  rates  for  gas,  electric 
light,  water,  telegraph  and  telephone  service,  are  no  longer 
fixed  by  the  competitive  process.  Monopoly  is  a  potent 
factor  in  the  economic  world;  it  cannot  be  neglected  in  any 
careful  study  of  wages.  The  familiar  theories  of  wages,  such 
as  the  wage  fund  theory,  the  residual  theory,  and  the  marginal 
productivity  theory  are  all  grounded  upon  the  fundamental 
postulates  of  free  competition.  If,  however,  economic  fric- 
tion is  present,  none  of  these  theories  may  be  accepted  as  an 
adequate  guide. 

With  the  narrowing  of  the  competitive  field  the  question 
as  to  what  is  a  just  and  scientific  standard  of  measurement  for 


INDUSTRIAL   REMUNERATION 


211 


wages,  prices,  and  rates  becomes  increasingly  important;  and, 
at  the  same  time,  it  becomes  much  more  difficult  to  solve 
because  the  basis  for  competitive  wages,  prices,  and  rates  is 
being   undermined.     Much   of    the   current   discussion   and 
theorizing  as  to  the  rights  of  labor  and  of  capital  is  futile 
because  either  the  existence  of  free  competition  is  assumed, 
or  reference  is  made  to  wages  or  prices  paid  in  the  past,  or 
some  arbitrary  standard  is  postulated  which  has  no  validity 
beyond  the  personal  desires  of  certain  individuals  or  classes. 
No  court  of  arbitration  or  board  of  conciliation  has  as  yet 
offered  any  definite  and  scientific  formula  by  means  of  which 
disputes  as  to  wages  or  conditions  of  labor  may  be  adjusted. 
Nothing  has  been  discovered  to  replace  the  discarded  stand- 
ard of  medievalism  or  the  automatic  process  of  the  laissez 
{aire  system.    The  finding  of  a  board  of  arbitration  is  merely 
a  compromise  which  removes  the  immediate  difficulty;  the 
root  of  the  matter  is  never  laid  bare.    An  anxious  public  is  not 
given  any  exact  data;  no  definite  method  of  procedure  is 
presented  which  may  be  used  as  a  basis  for  the  work  of  other 
boards  which  may  be  organized  at  some  future  date.     Courts 
of  arbitration  and  boards  of  conciliation  frequently  study  the 
physical,  social,  and  economic  conditions  in  the  industry  to 
which  their  attention  is  directed.    The  home  and  working 
environments  of  the  workingman  are  investigated,  a  careful 
estimate  of  the  household  budget  is  frequently  made,  and  the 
condition  of  the  workers  in  that  industry  and  locality  may  be 
compared  with  those  of  employees  in  other  industries  and 
localities.     Much  comparative  data  is  accumulated;  but  the 
crux  of  the  difficulty  still  remains.     Our  concept  of  a  fair 
wage   is   as   yet  very   elusive   and   indefinite.    Subjective, 
rather  than  objective,  considerations  seem  to  have  the  great- 
est weight.     In   this   respect   a   marked   contrast   may   be 
discerned  between  the  modern  and  the  medieval  viewpoint. 
Negatively  stated,  it  may  be  confidently  urged  that  an  ex- 


% 


I'l: 


t 


I; 


ill 

I  M 


i 

i 


m 


212     HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

• 

tremely  low  wage,  such  as  is  paid  in  the  sweated  industries,  is 
not  a  fair  wage.  The  positive  statement  assumes  the  follow- 
ing form :  —  A  fair  wage  is  one  which  allows  the  worker  and 
his  family  to  adopt  a  standard  of  living  in  harmony  with  local 
and  class  standards.  The  practical  difficulties  are  a  multi- 
tude. A  fair  wage  for  an  unskilled  worker  would  not  be  a 
fair  wage  for  the  skilled  man.  A  wage  sufficient  to  maintain 
an  unmarried  man  in  comfort  may  be  inadequate  for  the 
married  wage  earner.  In  a  densely  populated  country,  it 
may  conceivably  be  impossible  to  pay  living  wages.  One 
additional  point,  however,  seems  clear:  —  An  adequate  mod- 
ern theory  of  fair  wages  and  fair  prices  cannot  rest  upon  a 
basis  of  special  privilege;  it  must  stand  upon  the  firm  founda- 
tion of  equality  of  privileges  and  of  opportunities  and  of  the 
abolition  of  artificial  and  inherited  inequalities. 

Methods  of  Remuneration.  The  antagonism  between  labor 
and  capital  is  clearly  pushed  into  the  foreground  when  the 
question  of  wages  is  considered.  Each  laborer  is  vitally 
interested  in  an  increase  of  wages.  The  employer  is  interested, 
not  especially  in  lowering  the  general  rate  of  wages,  but  in 
a  reduction  of  the  wages  paid  per  unit  of  output  in  his  own 
establishment.  From  the  point  of  view  of  the  employer,  a 
system  of  wage  payment  is  desirable  if  it  reduces  the  labor 
cost  per  unit  of  output.  The  employer  seeks  a  system  which 
will  furnish  an  effective  incentive  to  stimulate  the  workers 
to  more  energetic  action.  Under  slavery,  fear  was  the  chief 
incentive;  under  the  wage  system,  fear  has  been  replaced  in  a 
measure  by  duty  and  by  the  desire  for  income.  The  employer 
is  anxious  to  install  a  system  which  will  provide  an  obvious 
incentive  to  the  worker  to  increase  his  output  without  caus- 
ing appreciable  deterioration  in  the  quality  of  the  output  or 
an  increase  in  the  amount  of  waste  involved  in  the  perform- 
ance of  the  work.  The  employee  is  opposed  to  any  system 
of  wage  payment  which  tends  to  reduce  the  wages  measured 


INDUSTRIAL  REMUNERATION 


213 


by  the  output  of  energy  and  by  the  abiUty  of  the  wage  earner 
or  which  tends  to  cause  overdriving  and  the  rapid  deteriora- 
tion of  the  worker,  that  is,  which  approximates  the  sweating 
system.  In  the  consideration  of  different  systems  of  wage 
payments,  these  somewhat  antagonistic  viewpoints  must  not 

be  overlooked. 

Seven  different  systems  of  wage  payments  will  be  briefly 
considered :  — time  wage,  task  wage,  piece  wage,  progressive 
wage,  the  sUding  scale,  profit  sharing,  cooperation.  Cooper- 
ation is  not  strictly  a  system  of  wage  payment;  the  employer 
and  employee  are  not  separate  and  distinct  individuals. 
Nevertheless,  it  seems  advisable  to  discuss  its  advantages 
and  disadvantages  in  connection  with  systems  of  wage  pay- 
ment. One  difficulty  common  to  all  wage  systems  is  the 
determination  of  the  amount  of  output  which  ought  to  be 
accredited  to  organization  and  managerial  ability.  Economic 
interest  and  experience  lead  the  average  employee  to  mini- 
mize the  importance  of  business  organization,  and  the  em- 
ployer to  over-emphasize  the  same. 

I.  Time  Wage.  The  two  basic  systems  of  wage  paymefnt 
are  the  time  and  the  piece  wage.  Other  systems  are  modifica- 
tions or  combinations  of  these  two.  In  the  time  wage  system 
the  base  is  a  unit  of  time,  one  hour,  one  day,  or  one  week;  in 
the  piece  wage  system  the  basis  is  a  unit  of  output  of  the 
worker.  Nevertheless,  under  the  time  wage  system  the  em- 
ployer is  not  indifferent  to  the  output  of  the  worker;  nor  under 
the  piece  wage  system  to  the  speed  of  the  worker.  If  the 
worker  who  is  paid  by  the  hour  or  the  day  falls  below  a  certain 
average  minimum  output  in  a  given  time,  he  will  be  discharged 
or  his  wages  cut.  On  the  other  hand,  the  employer  cannot 
afford  to  utilize  the  services  of  a  slow  piece-worker  because  of 
the  inefficient  use  of  tools,  machinery,  and  plant  furnished  by 
the  employer.  Under  the  time  system  it  is  extremely  difficult 
for  the  employer  to  quicken  the  pace  of  the  employee,  or  to 


f 


I 


214    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

ascertain  whether  his  men  are  working  at  a  reasonable  rate  of 
speed.  The  fast  and  skilled  men  naturally  adjust  their  pace 
to  that  of  the  slower  and  less  skilful.  Within  certain  elastic 
limits  the  time  wage  system  tends  to  level  the  rate  of  pay  for 
men  in  a  given  trade  or  subdivision  of  a  trade.  Wages  are  not 
paid  in  proportion  to  different  individual  capacities.  As  a 
consequence,  uniformity  of  output  is  approximated. 

The  chief  incentives  to  efficient  work  are  the  fear  of  dis- 
charge if  the  output  falls  below  a  rather  indefinite  minimum, 
a  feeling  of  duty  or  of  obligation  to  do  a  fair  day's  work  for  a 
day's  wage,  emulation  of  other  workers  or  rivalry  between 
workers,  and  the  hope  of  advancement  or  of  an  increase  in 
wages.  The  first  incentive  is  strongest  in  periods  of  depres- 
sion and  of  slack  work.  Skilful  managers  often  stimulate 
emulation  or  rivalry  among  employees.  The  United  States 
Steel  Corporation,  for  example,  not  only  stimulates  rivalry 
between  individual  workers,  but  also  between  different  de- 
partments in  the  same  plant  and  between  various  plants. 
The  hope  of  advancement  is  more  potent  among  skilled  than 
among  unskilled  workers.  The  potency  of  the  feeling  of  duty 
to  render  good  service  for  wages  promised  is  undoubtedly 
reduced  by  those  changes  which  tend  to  separate  employer 
from  employee,  and  which  increase  the  feelings  of  antagonism 
between  the  employing  and  the  employed  classes. 

In  general  the  time  wage  system  may  be  considered  to  be 
particularly  desirable  when  one  or  more  of  the  following 
conditions  obtain:  —  (a)  It  is  difficult  to  easily  ascertain  the 
quality  of  workmanship,  (b)  A  given  article  is  the  joint 
product  of  several  individuals,  (c)  The  machinery  is  deli- 
cate and  costly,  (d)  The  material  utilized  is  expensive. 
(e)  The  work  is  of  an  abnormal  nature,  such  as  repair 
work.  (/)  The  counting  or  measuring  of  the  product  is 
a  slow  or  difficult  task.  As  a  rule,  labor  organizations  are 
more  inclined  to  look  with  favor  upon  the  time  than  upon 


4 


INDUSTRIAL  REMUNERATION 


215 


the  piece  wage  system.  Their  attitude,  however,  is  governed 
by  the  special  conditions  and  circumstances  surrounding  the 
work  in  specific  trades. 

II.  Task  Wage.  Under  this  system  of  wage  payment,  the 
workman  is  obliged  to  finish  a  standard  amount  of  output 
within  a  given  period  of  time  or  suffer  a  reduction  in  his 
wages  for  that  period.  But  if  he  produces  an  output  in 
excess  of  his  required  daily  task,  he  is  not  entitled  to  addi- 
tional wages.  The  task  system  among  the  Jewish  clothing 
workers  has  led  to  over-exertion  and  over-driving  in  an 
extreme  form.^ 

III.  Piece  Wage.  As  wages  under  this  system  of  wage 
payment  are  proportional  to  individual  output,  the  desire  to 
increase  income  is  the  direct  and  potent  incentive  to  more 
rapid  work.  Theoretically,  wages  paid  by  the  piece  vary  in 
accordance  with  individual  capacity.  Since  the  piece  rate 
is  usually  fixed  in  an  arbitrary  and  purely  empirical  manner, 
the  employer  is  often  sorely  tempted  to  cut  the  rate;  and  he 
frequently  yields  to  the  temptation.  "The  ordinary  piece- 
work system  involves  a  permanent  antagonism  between  em- 
ployers and  men,  and  a  certainty  of  punishment  for  each 
workman  who  reaches  a  high  rate  of  efficiency."  Conse- 
quently, in  actual  practice  the  fear,  born  of  repeated  experi- 
ences, that  the  rate  per  piece  will  be  cut  if  wages  per  hour 
rise  much  above  the  average  time  wage,  leads  toward  uni- 
formity of  output  on  the  part  of  different  workers.  The 
rapid  worker  is  also  discouraged  in  a  variety  of  ways  by  his 
shop-mates  from  exerting  himself  to  a  maximum.  ''Soldier- 
ing" or  "killing  time"  is,  however,  reduced  to  a  minimum. 
The  piece  wage  system  is  especially  desirable  in  cases  where 
supervision  is  difficult. 

The  piece  wage  system  sacrifices  quality  for  quantity. 
Oversight  and  prodding  by  the  foreman  are  in  a  large  measure 

*  See  Chapter  XII,  pp.  362-364. 


•! 


\  i  f 

■< ' 

I ;  ':'  'l 

J.  ', 

lil- 


^ 


2i6    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

eliminated;  but  the  work  of  the  inspector  of  the  finished  article 
is  of  great  importance.  Piece  work  often  drives  the  worker 
to  over-exertion;  and  physical  and  nervous  overstrain  is  a  con- 
sequence of  its  introduction.  The  individual  is  induced  to 
sacrifice  his  future  wage  and  efficiency  for  an  advance  today. 
In  certain  cases,  however,  a  piece  wage  system  may  reduce 
rather  than  increase  over-exertion.  For  example,  in  the  cot- 
ton spinning  industry  under  the  time  wage  system  the  speed 
of  the  machine  may  be  almost  imperceptibly  increased.  The 
worker  is.obfiged  to  gauge  his  rapidity  of  movement  by  the 
speed  of  the  machinery.  Under  such  circumstances,  certain 
objections  to  the  piece  wage  system  vanish;  and  the  employer 
is  given  a  weaker  incentive  to  speed  up  the  spinning  machinery 
until  the  health  of  the  operative  is  endangered. 

IV.  The  Progressive  Wage  or  the  Premium  Plan.  Guess- 
work and  rule-of-thumb  methods  have  no  place  in  the  modern 
factory.  Business  engineering  is  rapidly  being  placed  upon 
a  scientific  basis.  Method:  of  performing  work  are  being 
carefully  and  intensively  studied.  The  business  engineer, 
the  accountant,  time  cards,  and  elaborate  systems  of  book- 
keeping are  important  factors  in  every  large  and  up-to-date 
factory.  The  cost  of  production  of  each  and  every  minute 
part  or  operation  is  accurately  determined.  Expenses  of  pro- 
duction —  materials  and  labor  cost  —  are  known.  A  careful 
study  is  made  of  both  the  man  and  the  machine.  The  appli- 
cation of  scientific  principles  to  the  art  of  bricklaying  has 
demonstrated  that  many  of  the  customary  motions  of  the 
bricklayers  are  unnecessary.  Experts  are  needed  to  study 
each  particular  kind  or  process  of  work.  The  potentialities  of 
scientific  business  engineering  seem  enormous.  One  writer 
has  hinted  at  a  new  "industrial  revolution"  as  a  consequence 
t)f  the  use  of  scientific  methods  in  business  management.  If 
this  be  true,  the  great  mass  of  the  population  including  all  the 
wage  earners  should  use  their  endeavors,  not  only  "to  fore§taU 


INDUSTRIAL   REMUNERATION 


217 


its  miseries,  but  to  socialize  the  benefits  which  would  come 
from  great  leaps  in  production."  ^  The  pioneer  and  most 
noted  exponent  of  scientific  management  is  Mr.  F.  W.  Taylor. 

Progressive  wage  systems  are  a  part  of  the  fruits  of  business 
engineering.  The  normal  time  required  to  perform  a  given 
operation  is  carefully  ascertained  by  a  series  of  tests.  In  this 
manner  the  empirical  rate  of  the  ordinary  piece-work  system  is 
replaced  by  a  systematically  ascertained  "  time  base."  A  pro- 
gressive wage  system  is  a  combination  of  the  piece  and  time 
wage  system.  Since  the  time  base  is  carefully  ascertained,  the 
temptation  to  cut  the  rate  is  in  a  large  measure  removed,  and 
one  serious  defect  of  piece  work  obviated.  The  prodding  of  the 
foreman,  which  is  a  disagreeable  feature  of  the  time  wage,  is 
replaced  by  the  accurate  record  of  the  time  card. 

The  advocates  of  the  premium  plan  assert  that  it  saves 
time  and  increases  output.  The  danger  of  stimulating  the 
worker  to  over-exertion  is  not  eliminated;  but  it  is  somewhat 
less  than  in  the  case  of  piece-work.  The  premium  plan  can  be 
most  satisfactorily  applied  in  shops  where  the  same  articles 
are  produced  day  after  day.  New  operations  cannot  be 
brought  within  the  scope  of  the  premium  plan  until  they  have 
been  subjected  to  careful  experimentation  in  order  to  ascertain 
the  proper  time  base.  The  progressive  wage  system  is  some- 
times called  gain  sharing;  it  is  a  direct  form  of  profit  sharing. 
The  worker's  share  in  the  profits  due  to  his  extra  exertion  is 
paid  to  him  on  each  pay  day.  Many  employers  doubtless 
favor  a  premium  system,  not  merely  because  it  increases  out- 
put and  lowers  costs,  but  because  they  believe  that  such  a 
plan  of  wage  payment  will  tend  to  prevent  the  growth  of 
union  sentiment  in  their  factories.  The  capable  and  strong 
workers  will  be  enabled  to  earn  high  wages  and  will  not  be 
tempted  to  become  leaders  in  a  labor  organization.    In  New 

*  Kellogg,  "  A  National  Hearing  for  Scientific  Management,"  The  Survey. 
Dec.  3,  1910. 


li 


i;    i' 


.>  ( 


2i8    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

Zealand,  it  has  been  proposed  that  the  "living  wage"  stand- 
ard ought  to  be  supplemented  by  a  premium  wage  for  effi- 
ciency. This  proposal  was  not  well  received  by  labor  leaders. 
Opposition  to  anything  savoring  of  a  task  system  or  stimu- 
lating pace-making,  is  to  be  expected  from  organized  labor, 
(a)  Halsey's  Plan.  Perhaps  the  most  famous  premium 
plan  is  one  first  presented  by  Mr.  F.  A.  Halsey.  The  two 
fundamental  considerations  in  this  plan  are  the  time  base  and 
the  amount  of  the  premium  to  be  paid.  After  careful  ex- 
perimentation the  normal  time  required  to  do  a  given  job  is 
ascertained.  If  the  worker  finishes  a  given  job  in  less  time, 
a  premium  is  paid  for  the  reduction  in  time.  The  determina- 
tion of  the  amount  of  the  premium  is  really  a  matter  of  psy- 
chology. The  aim  is  to  produce  the  maximum  incentive  at  the 
minimum  cost.  If  a  man  does  not  produce  the  normal  or 
standard  amount  of  work  in  a  day,  he  still  receives  the  usual 
day's  wage.  For  example,  if  a  given  job  normally  requires 
ten  hours'  work  and  the  worker  is  paid  at  the  rate  of  thirty 
cents  per  hour,  the  time  base  is  three  dollars.  This  amount 
will  be  paid  whether  the  job  is  completed  or  not  in  the  ten 
hours.  If  the  premium  is  ten  cents  for  every  hour  saved  and 
the  work  is  completed  in  nine  instead  of  ten  hours,  the  worker 
will  receive  $2.70  plus  ten  cents  or  $2.80  for  nine  hours'  work; 
or  approximately  $3.11  instead  of  $3.00  for  ten  hours'  work. 
Where  considerable  physical  exertion  is  required  or  in  case 
the  work  is  unusually  disagreeable,  a  larger  premium  must  be 
paid  in  order  to  stimulate  the  worker  than  is  necessary  for 
lighter  or  more  agreeable  work.  The  time  base  should  only 
be  changed  when  some  change  or  improvement  is  made  in  the 
process  of  turning  out  the  particular  article  or  in  performing 
a  particular  operation.  If  the  time  base  is  arbitrarily  changed, 
the  system  degenerates  into  a  piece  wage  system.  Emerson's 
cumulative  system  eliminates  the  daily  fluctuations  by 
figuring  the  bonus  upon  the  work  done  in  a  month. 


INDUSTRIAL  REMUNERATION 


219 


(b)  The  Differential  Piece-Rate  Plan.  Under  this  system 
if  a  worker  does  not  attain  a  certain  minimum  rate  of  work, 
his  wage  rate  per  piece  is  cut.  A  further  reduction  is  to  be 
made  if  some  of  the  work  is  imperfect.  If  the  maximum  rate 
is  ten  pieces  per  day,  the  worker  is  to  receive,  for  example, 
thirty  cents  per  piece;  but  if  he  only  turns  out  nine  pieces,  he 
will  receive  only  twenty-eight  cents  per  piece.  This  plan 
seems  to  be  an  undesirable  form  of  a  task  system,  {c)  An 
English  system  —  Rowan's  plan  —  is  worthy  of  brief  notice. 
The  pay  of  the  worker  increases  as  the  time  required  to  com- 
plete a  given  job  is  decreased;  but  the  rate  can  never  be  in- 
creased beyond  twice  the  original  rate  per  hour.  For  example, 
suppose  the  time  base  for  a  given  order  of  ten  pieces  is  ten 
hours,  and  the  day  wage  is  $3.00.  For  every  hour  gained 
one-tenth  of  the  original  wage  per  hour  is  to  be  added  to  the 
rate.  The  cost  per  piece  is  reduced  while  the  wage  per  hour 
is  increased.  The  following  table  shows  the  rate  of  payment 
when  the  job  is  done  in  ten  hours,  in  nine  hours,  and  in  eight 
hours. 


^ieces. 

Time. 

Wage. 

Wage. 

Cost. 

hours 

per  hour 

per  ten-hour  day 

per  ptece 

10 

10 

30  cents 

$3.00 

30  cents 

10 

9 

33 

3-30 

29.7 

10 

8 

36 

3.60 

28.8 

Mr.  Rowan  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Halsey  argues  that  the  Rowan 
plan  is  one  which  will  not  necessitate  cuts  in  the  rate  of  pay- 
ment when  extraordinary  increases  are  made  in  the  total 
daily  output  of  the  worker.  The  former  writes  that  "while 
yours  is  a  decided  improvement  upon  the  ordinary  piece- 
work system  when  you  come  to  great  reductions  in  the  hours 
taken,  and  these  are  the  stages  at  which  you  wish  to  encourage 
the  men  as  well  as  at  the  earlier  stages,  here  I  think  my  system 
has  a  great  advantage  over  any  other  system  of  which  I  have 
yet  heard."  ^ 

'  Commons,  Trade  Unionism  and  Labor  Problems,  p.  288. 


Hi 


Sl'^ 


^1 


2  20    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

V.  The  Bonus.  Various  bonus  systems  have  been  tried 
by  different  companies.  A  firm  manufacturing  men's  gar- 
ments, for  example,  offers  four.  i.  A  quantity  bonus  is  paid 
when  the  worker  exceeds  a  certain  daily  task.  2.  A  quality 
bonus  is  paid  if  all'  the  work  of  a  given  period  passes  the  in- 
spector. 3.  If  the  worker  is  regular  in  his  work  and  is  not 
tardy,  without  sufficient  excuse,  an  attendance  bonus  is  paid. 
4.  After  an  employee  has  been  on  the  pay-roll  for  a  term  of 
years,  a  service  bonus  is  paid  in  addition  to  the  other  three. 
Other  plants  use  one  or  more  of  these  plans.  The  sliding 
scale  has  been  used  in  the  mining  industry.  The  wages  are 
automatically  lowered  or  raised  as  the  price  of  the  product 
fluctuates.  The  wage  earner  under  this  system  is  dependent 
upon  the  vicissitudes  of  the  market. 

VI.  Profit  Sharing,  Profit  sharing  and  cooperation  are 
essentially  proposed  panaceas  for  the  evils  arising  under  the 
present  industrial  order;  but  it  seems  advisable  to  consider 
both  in  the  present  chapter.  Profit  sharing  is  a  system  sup- 
plementing the  ordinary  methods  of  wage  payment.  It  has 
been  tried  as  a  remedy  for  certain  evils  connected  with  the 
present  relations  between  labor  and  capital.  Under  profit 
sharing  the  worker  is  to  be  paid  time  or  piece  wages.  In 
addition  he  is  promised  some  more  or  less  definite  share  in  the 
profits  of  the  business,  if  profits  are  earned.  This  method  is 
quite  dissimilar  from  gain  sharing  as  carried  out  under  some 
form  of  the  premium  plan.  In  the  case  of  gain  sharing,  the 
bonus  or  premium  received  is  due  solely  to  the  extra  exertion 
and  dexterity  of  the  individual  workman.  Under  profit 
sharing,  the  dividend  paid  to  the  workman  depends  upon  a 
multitude  of  circumstances  —  such  as  the  business  ability  of 
managers,  conditions  of  the  market,  the  efficiency  of  the 
entire  working  staff,  and  the  carefulness  and  efficiency  of  each 
individual  worker.  The  effort  and  efficiency  of  a  particular 
worker  are  only  one  factor  in  producing  profits;  and  may  be 


INDUSTRIAL   REMUNERATION 


221 


more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  inefficient  functioning  of 
other  parts  of  the  industrial  and  business  mechanism. 

The  advocates  of  profit  sharing  assert  that  it  will  remove 
many  difficulties  now  imbedded  in  our  industrial  system. 
But  the  general  adoption  of  profit  sharing  would  cause  little 
change  in  that  system.  The  wage  system  would  remain;  and 
the  employer  would  still  be  in  control  of  industry.  Profit 
sharing  is  paternalistic  or  of  the  nature  of  a  benevolent 
autocracy;  it  is  far  removed  from  industrial  democracy.  It 
is  difficult  to  see  how  the  fundamental  antagonism  between  the 
employer,  anxious  to  increase  his  share  in  the  product  of  a 
given  plant,  and  the  employee  likewise  desirous  of  adding  to 
his  yearly  income  can  be  removed  by  any  indefinite  free-will 
offering  on  the  part  of  the  former.  The  system  originated 
in  France.  A  house  painter  and  decorator  named  Leclaire 
first  tried  it  in  1843.  "The  Maison  Leclaire"  became  an 
important  and  successful  business.  Various  experiments  have 
been  tried  in  England  and  in  the  United  States;  but  there  is 
no  immediate  prospect  of  any  considerable  development  of 
the  system. 

Product  Sharing.  Product  sharing  may  be  considered  to 
be  the  prototype  of  profit  sharing.  * 'Profit  sharing,  whether 
in  agriculture,  trade,  or  manufacture  is  the  adaptation  of  this 
ancient  and  approved  product  sharing  to  the  conditions  of 
modern  industrial  life. "  ^  In  agriculture,  the  metayer  system 
or  share  farming  is  a  form  of  product  sharing.  The  owner  of 
the  farm  furnishes  the  land,  the  buildings,  and,  oftentimes,  a 
portion  of  the  implements,  live-stock,  and  seeds.  The  product 
is  shared  between  the  owner  and  the  tenant  in  accordance 
with  a  contract  made  at  the  opening  of  the  season.  In  the 
fishing  industry,  the  proceeds  of  a  given  catch  or  a  given 
voyage  are  often  divided  among  the  crew.  Wages  are  not 
paid;  the  recompense  depends  entirely  upon  the  size  of  the 

*Gilman,  Profit  Sharing,  p.  418. 


i 


m 


1,'  i  ' 


■';i 


222     HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

catch.  Product  sharing  does  not  provide  for  wages.  Profit 
sharing  provides  for  an  allowance  in  addition  to  the  ordinary 
wage. 

Methods.  There  are  three  important  systems  of  profit 
sharing:  —  cash  payments  made  at  the  end  of  a  given  period; 
deferred  participation;  and  payment  in  the  stock  of  the  com- 
pany.^ In  the  United  States  and  in  England  the  first  and 
third  methods  are  chiefly  used.  The  second  is  often  used  in 
France.  The  S.  M.  Jones  Company  of  Toledo  for  some  years 
paid  a  cash  bonus  of  five  per  cent,  of  the  annual  wages  of  each 
employee.  Later,  instead  of  paying  cash,  the  amount  of  the 
bonus  was  allowed  as  a  partial  payment  toward  a  share  of  the 
stock  of  the  company.  A  wholesale  grocer  in  Toledo  for  some 
years  paid  an  equal  cash  bonus  to  each  of  his  employees, —  the 
unskilled  shared  equally  with  the  skilled.  The  Cabot  Manu- 
facturing Company  presents  an  example  of  the  trial  of  a  plan 
of  profit  sharing  combining  cash  and  deferred  payments. 
This  company  manufactures  certain  chemical  products. 
Before  an  operative  can  participate  in  the  benefits  of  the 
profit  sharing  system,  he  must  sign  a  paper  binding  him  to 
give  a  notice  of  sixty  days  before  leaving  the  employ  of  the 
company  and  to  do  "all  in  his  power  to  save  expenses.'*  A 
certain  portion  of  the  net  profits  —  known  only  to  the  pro- 
prietor—  is  divided  among  the  workers  according  to  the 
wages  received  by  each  profit  sharer.  One-half  of  the  profits 
is  paid  in  cash  and  one-half  is  placed  in  a  savings  bank  by 
the  proprietor  as  trustee.  If  an  employee  dies,  his  heirs  are 
entitled  to  the  accumulated  fund.  If  an  employee  leaves  the 
factory,  "and  gives  the  required  sixty  days'  notice,  the  fund 
remains  at  interest  two  years  in  the  bank,  and  is  then  handed 
over  to  the  operative,  provided  he  has  not  sold  the  secrets  or 
formulas  he  may  have  learned  in  the  course  of  his  employment 
in  these  works."    If  an  employee  does  not  keep  his  agree- 

1  Adams  and  Sumner,  Labor  Problems,  p.  335. 


INDUSTRIAL  REMUNERATION 


223 


ment,  the  accumulated  fund  to  his  credit  is  divided  among 
remaining  profit  sharers.  This  is  a  very  significant  provi- 
sion. In  case  of  a  strike,  the  strikers  would  lose  their  accumu- 
lated dividends  and  those  who  remained  at  work  would  have 
this  amount  added  to  their  dividends. 

If  employees  buy  shares  in  the  company  which  employs 
them,  they  do  not  become  profit  sharers.  The  dividends 
received  are  paid  to  them  as  stockholders  instead  of  employees 
of  the  company.  When  shares  of  stock  are  given  as  a  bonus  or 
sold  to  employees  at  a  reduced  price,  the  employees  may  be 
considered  to  be  profit  sharers.  The  United  States  Steel 
Corporation  has  sold  shares  of  stock  on  special  terms  to  its 
employees;  but  many  individual  workmen  cannot  see  that 
it  is  especially  advantageous  to  own  one  or  two  shares  in  that 
great  corporation.  In  1919,  Swift  and  Company  reported 
that  10,000  employees  were  stockholders  in  the  company. 
Under  a  stock-savings  plan  13,000  more  employees  were 
said  to  be  on  the  road  to  become  stockholders.  Other  cor- 
porations have  tried  similar  plans. 

A  dvantages  of  Profit  Sharing.  The  advocates  of  some  system 
of  profit  sharing  urge  that  the  unmodified  and  unimproved 
wage  system  is  a  failure.  It  does  not  give  the  worker  a  direct 
and  personal  interest  in  his  work;  and,  as  a  result,  antagonism 
develops  between  employer  and  employee.  Profit  sharing, 
however,  tends  to  reduce  labor  turnover.  Piece-work  and 
the  various  premium  plans  stimulate  the  worker  to  greater 
exertion;  but  they  do  not  cause  him  to  be  more  careful  of  the 
machinery  and  tools  which  he  uses;  and  these  systems  of 
wage  payment,  it  is  contended,  do  not  aid  in  eliminating  the 
waste  of  material  used  in  production.  It  is  possible,  for 
example,  to  cut  leather  for  shoes  so  that  much  material  will 
be  wasted.  Indeed,  a  workman  who  is  working  against  time 
as  a  piece-worker  cannot  be  expected  to  reduce  his  speed  in 
order  to  save  material.     Under  profit  sharing,  a  saving  in 


w 


ii 


224    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

material  is  as  potent  in  increasing  the  dividends  paid  to  the 
worker  as  is  a  reduction  in  the  time  of  performing  a  given 
operation.  It  is  further  asserted  that  the  workman  who  is  a 
profit  sharer  also  has  a  personal  interest  in  caring  for  the  tools 
and  machinery  committed  to  his  charge.  According  to  its 
friends  and  advocates,  profit  sharing  will  improve  the  quality 
of  the  product,  will  induce  the  workman  to  be  more  careful  of 
his  tools,  will  reduce  the  waste  of  material  used  in  making 
the  finished  product,  and  will,  in  no  small  measure,  eliminate 
the  friction  between  employer  and  employed. 

If  profit  sharing  is  to  be  a  success  as  a  business  proposition 
and  as  a  project  to  reduce  the  friction  between  the  employer 
and  the  employed,  additional  profits  must  be  produced  as  a 
result  of  its  introduction.  If,  however,  the  workers  have  been 
sdmulated,  as  they  usually  are  in  America,  practically  to  the 
limit  of  their  physical  strength  by  means  of  the  prodding  of 
foremen,  piece-work,  or  a  progressive  wage  system,  an  extra 
bonus  cannot  be  produced  except  by  saving  material  or 
reducing  the  wear  and  tear  upon  machinery  and  tools.  In 
any  industry  where  the  men  are  driven  nearly  to  their  limit 
profit  sharing  will  be  of  little  economic  importance  unless  the 
element  of  waste  material  and  wear  and  tear  upon  machines 
and  tools  is  a  very  important  consideration.  In  a  monopolistic 
industry,  profit  sharing  may  be  successfully  pracriced  since 
the  firm  may  consider  it  advantageous  to  keep  the  men  con- 
tented by  paying  higher  wages  plus  a  bonus  or  share  in  the 
profits.  But  the  reason  for  the  adoption  of  such  a  policy  is 
not  purely  economic,  that  is,  the  expectation  of  additional 
profits  is  not  the  immediate  and  the  chief  motive  leading  to 
the  adoption  of  this  poUcy. 

Objections  to  the  System,  (a)  As  a  srimulus  to  the  individual 
worker  to  increase  his  output,  profit  sharing  is  less  direct  and 
potent  than  a  piece  wage  or  some  form  of  a  progressive  wage. 
An  increase  in  the  amount  contained  in  the  next  pay  envelope 


INDUSTRIAL   REMUNERATION 


225 


is  much  more  stirring  and  invigorating  to  the  average  person 
than  the  possibility  of  a  dividend  declared  some  time  next  win- 
ter. The  nexus  between  individual  effort  and  a  larger  piece  or 
premium  wage  is  also  much  closer  than  that  between  individ- 
ual effort  and  company  profits,  (b)  Profit  sharing  is  a  one- 
sided matter.  There  is  really  only  one  party  controlling  the 
scheme,  —  the  employer.  He  proposes  it,  decides  upon  the 
amount  of  the  bonus,  manages  the  business,  and  absolutely 
control^  the  bookkeeping.  From  the  point  of  view  of  the 
workers,  their  share  in  the  profits  is  substantially  a  gift. 
Under  such  circumstances,  the  worker  cannot  feel  that  he  is 
a  part  owner  and  manager  of  the  business.  Care  and  economy 
on  the  part  of  the  worker  can  only  be  effectively  stimulated 
in  the  mass  of  the  workers  when  profit  sharing  approaches 
cooperation,  when  industrial  autocracy  is  replaced  by  indus- 
trial democracy. 

(c)  Profit  sharing,  instead  of  reducing  the  friction  between 
labor  and  capital,  may  increase  it  because  the  possible  points 
of  difference  between  employer  and  employees  are  increased 
rather  than  diminished.     The  question  of  how  much  the 
laborer  should  receive  and  how  much  should  go  to  the  em- 
ployer, still  remains  practically  unchanged  under  profit  shar- 
ing.    If  the  system  should  become  universal  would  not  the 
struggle  now  so  frequent  as  to  the  rate  of  wages  continue,  and 
in  addition  would  not  disputes  often  arise  as  to  the  division 
of  profits?    As  the  books  of  the  company  are  not  usually  open 
to  inspection,  the  suspicion  may  arise  that  the  company  is 
not   dealing  fairly  with  its   employees.     The  wage   system 
gives  the  worker  a  definite  contractual  income  per  day  or  per 
piece.    Profit  sharing  makes  the  income  of  the  employee  in  a 
measure   dependent  upon   the   vicissitudes  of   the  business 
worid.     Profit  sharing  "offends  against  that  cardinal  princi- 
ple which  demands  'that  every  man  shall  receive  his  own 
reward   according   to   his   own   labor.'"     The   reduction   in 


■  ■•} 


':^ 


■  *  ■ 


226    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

costs  resulting  from  greater  care,  diligence,  and  speed,  and 
leading  to  increased  profits  to  be  shared  between  labor  and 
capital,  may  be  counterbalanced  by  bad  management  so  that 
no  profits  may  accrue  to  be  distributed. 

Systems  of  profit  sharing  have  usually  been  inaugurated 
by  employers  for  one  or  more  of  three  reasons:  — (i)  In 
order  to  increase  the  output  of  the  factory,  to  induce  the 
workers  to  be  more  careful  of  tools  and  machinery,  and  to 
reduce  the  waste  of  material.  (2)  To  appease  the  workers 
and  to  alienate  them  from  their  union  or  to  prevent  the  for- 
mation of  a  union  among  the  employees.  (3)  For  humani- 
tarian or  philanthropic  (not  business)  reasons. 

The  first  motive  needs  no  further  discussion.    Effective 
trade-union  action  is  only  possible  when  the  members  of  the 
union  feel  that  their  interests  are  furthered  through  the  use 
of  the  trade-union  methods  and  weapons.    If  the  employees 
of  a  company  become  owners  of  shares  of  stock,  or  have  the 
prospect  of  receiving  an  annuity  or  an  annual  bonus,  they  are 
less  ready  to  use  union  methods  in  order  to  secure  higher 
wages,  better  conditions,  or  a  shorter  working  day.     A  strike 
would  endanger  their  profits.     A  wage  earner  who  is  also  a 
profit  sharer  is  less  loyal  to  his  union  and  will  be  less  favorable 
to  the  adoption  of  coercive  measures  against  the  employing 
firm  than  the  man  who  is  simply  a  wage  earner.     The  solidar- 
ity of  the  modern  labor  organization  is  a  phenomenon  which 
can  only  appear  in  a  wage  earners'  union.     Such  solidarity 
would  be  impossible  in  a  mixed  union.     Profit  sharing  in- 
evitably tends  to  disintegrate  unions  and  to  dilute  unionism. 
No  inconsiderable  percentage  of  profit  sharing  systems  have 
been  inaugurated  after  a  strike  or  after  a  period  of  agitation. 
Many  employers  recognize  the  possibility  of  using  this  gentle 
but  potent  means  to  secure  industrial  peace;  and  labor  leaders 
are  not  blind  to  this  situation. 

With  men  like  the  late  S.  M.  Jones  and  N.  0.  Nelson, 


INDUSTRIAL   REMUNERATION  227 

humanitarian  reasons  undoubtedly  took  precedence  over 
others.  Both  were  engaged  in  highly  profitable  busi- 
nesses; both  were  well-to-do  men;  and  both  were  actu- 
ated by  high  and  non-mercenary  ideals.  Profit  sharing 
works  well  in  such  hands;  but  their  experience  is  of  little 
value  as  a  guide  in  studying  the  system.  Such  men  are 
primarily  philanthropists.  Their  scheme  of  profit  sharing 
points  toward  some  paternalistic  Utopia,  not  toward  indus- 
trial democracy. 

Conclusion.    Profit  sharing  cannot  be  considered  to  be  of    1 
importance  as  a  means  of  solving  any  of  the  vexed  problems 
connected  with  the  relations  existing  between  labor  and  capi- 
tal.   Profit  sharing  retains  the  forms  of  the  ordinary  wage 
system;  It  merely  adds  to  that  system  a  method  of  bonus  ^ 
payment.     At  best,  it  is  only  a  palHative  or  a  sedative. 
Profit  sharing  is  either  a  form  of  philanthropic  enterprise,  or  a 
kind  of  sugar-coated  industrial  autocracy.     Only  as  it  ap- 
proaches cooperation  in  form  and  method  can  this  system  be 
considered  to  be  of  important  industrial  significance.    In 
competitive  businesses,  with  employees  working  under  high 
pressure,  there  will  be  few  or  no  additional  profits  derived  as 
the  consequence  of  the  adoption  of  a  system  of  profit  sharing. 
It  is  most  successful  in  a  monopolistic  business  earning  more 
than  competitive  profits.     The  workers  are  given  a  share  in 
the  extraordinary  or  monopoly  gains  of  the  business.     But 
in  such  a  case,  the  basis  of  the  system  is  not  economic,  but 
philanthropic  or  political.     Discontented  workmen  may' sug- 
gest unpleasant  oflScial   or  unofficial  investigations.     On  the 
other  hand,  contented  workmen  sharing  in  monopoly  profits 
are  not  likely  to  look  with  favor  upon  such  investigations. 
The  deferred  payment  scheme  is  not  inviting  to  Americans 
because  of  the  extreme  mobility  of  the  labor  force,  and  be- 
cause the  American  workman  is  impatient  of  slow  gains,  is 
improvident,  and  is  fearful  that  he  may  in  some  way  be 


t 


lit  ; 


■:r' 


228    HISTORY   AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

finally  cheated  out  of  the  promised  annuity.  The  cash  bonus 
system  has  the  best  prospect  of  success  in  this  country, 
although  the  stock-sharing  system  may  succeed  in  a  measure 
among  the  more  highly  paid  operatives. 

In  19 1 6,  sixty  establishments  were  reported  as  using  profit 
sharing  in  some  form.  Of  this  number,  twenty,  or  one-third 
of  the  total,  were  started  in  1914,  1915  or  191 6.  Only  four 
reached  back  to  the  eighties,  —  Ballard  and  Ballard,  flour 
milling,  Louisville,  Kentucky,  1886;  Bourne  Mills,  manu- 
facture of  cotton  cloth.  Fall  River,  Massachusetts,  1889; 
Samuel  Cabot,  manufacturing  chemist,  Boston,  1887;  and 
the  N.  0.  Nelson  Manufacturing  Company,  plumbers'  and 
steam  fitters'  supplies,  St.  Louis,  1886.  In  only  one-third  of 
the  establishments  did  the  profits  shared  amount  to  over 
ten  per  cent  of  the  regular  earnings  of  the  participants.^ 
Recently,  certain  plants  using  the  shop  committee  system 
have  also  adopted  some  variety  of  profit  sharing. 

Welfare  Work.  The  so-called  ^'welfare  work"  carried  out 
by  certain  firms  may  be  considered  an  attenuated  form  of 
profit  sharing.  It  has  been  defined  as  including  "all  of  those 
services  which  an  employer  may  render  to  his  work  people 
over  and  above  the  payment  of  wages."  Welfare  work  usu- 
ally has  for  its  basis  the  improvement  of  working  conditions 
within  the  factory  or  shop,  the  betterment  of  the  home  en- 
vironment of  the  workers,  provisions  for  educational  facil- 
ities or  provisions  for  wholesome  and  healthful  recreation. 
"Model"  homes  may  be  built  for  the  working  people  and 
rented  to  them  at  low  rentals,  an  attractive  dining  room  which 
furnishes  meals  at  cost  prices  may  be  provided,  night  schools 
for  employees  and  kindergartens  for  their  children  may  be 
established,  baths  and  amusement  parks  may  be  provided, 
or  the  sanitary  conditions  within  the  factory  may  be  improved 

ft 

^  Bulletin  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  No.  208  (1916);  Monthly  Labor 
Review,  August,  191 7. 


INDUSTRIAL  REMUNERATION 


229 


—  these  are  a  few  of  the  many  varieties  of  welfare  work.  The 
increasing  attention  which  is  being  paid  to  welfare  work  or 
"industrial  betterment"  is  indicative  of  a  tendency  to  accept 
the  idea  that  it  is  not  only  humane,  but  business-like,  to 
strive  to  conserve  the  health  and  efficiency  of  the  workers 
in  a  given  establishment.  A  few  companies  have  "welfare 
managers"  whose  work  is  to  study  the  factory  and  its  employ- 
ees for  the  purpose  of  improving  the  working  and  leisure 
environments  of  the  workers.  Welfare  work  is  not  always 
appreciated  by  the  employees.  It  often  savors  of  paternalism ; 
and  it  has  probably  been  introduced  in  some  instances  for  the 
purpose  of  preventing  the  organization  of  the  employees,  or 
of  preventing  a  strike.  "Welfare  work,"  writes  Professor 
Commons,  "is  not  the  solution  of  the  labor  question  nor  the 
substitute  for  labor  organization.  It  is  part  of  the  labor 
movement  for  better  treatment,  better  conditions,  and  greater 
opportunities."  Welfare  work  originated  as  a  form  of  hu- 
man! tarianism  or  paternalistic  philanthropy;  it  is  evolving 
into  a  method,  based  upon  business  and  scientific  prin- 
ciples, of  improving  the  efficiency  of  the  working  force  of 
an  establishment. 

VII.  Cooperation.  Unlike  profit  sharing,  cooperation  in- 
volves a  fundamental  change  in  the  present  industrial  order. 
Profit  sharing  is  a  device  proposed  and  inaugurated  by  the 
employer  primarily  to  increase  his  own  profits,  and  to  enable 
him  to  cope  more  easily  with  his  competitors  or  to  reduce 
industrial  or  political  friction  and  opposition.  The  control 
of  the  business  remains  in  the  hands  of  the  capitalists  —  the 
employers.  On  the  other  hand,  cooperation  places  the  busi- 
ness in  the  hands  of  the  employees  or  the  consumers,  and 
sweeps  the  employer  aside  as  a  useless  encumbrance.  The 
management  of  the  business  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  man- 
ager or  superintendent  selected  by  the  employees.  Employer 
and  employee  are  merged  into  one.     Cooperation  is  a  step 


'i 


t     i 


230    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

in  the  industrial  sphere  similar  to  constitutional  government 
and  universal  suffrage  in  the  political  world.  Cooperation 
and  trade  unionism  are  both  essentially  working  class  move- 
ments. Both  aim  to  introduce  some  form  of  industrial 
democracy.  The  fundamental  ideals  of  the  former  have 
been  summarized  in  a  clear  and  concise  manner,  (a)  The 
control  of  the  business  ought  to  rest  in  the  hands  of  the 
workmen,  (b)  The  receipt  of  wages  is  inconsistent  with 
the  dignity  of  labor,  (c)  It  is  a  flagrant  injustice  to 
exclude  the  workmen  from  participating  in  the  profits  of 
the  business,  {d)  The  employer  is  unnecessary,  {e)  If  the 
profits  of  the  business  accrue  to  the  workers,  their  income 
will  be  appreciably  increased.^  Cooperative  enterprises  may 
be  divided  into  at  least  four  general  classes:  —  consumers' 
cooperation,  represented  by  the  cooperative  store;  distrib- 
utors' cooperation,  of  which  the  grain  sellers'  cooperative 
elevator  is  an  example;  credit  cooperation,  represented  by 
the  building  and  loan  association;  and  producers'  coopera- 
tion, of  which  a  factory  operated  by  the  workmen  in  the 
plant  is  an  example.  The  second  and  third  forms  are  usu- 
ally organized  and  controlled  by  others  than  wage  earners; 
and,  consequently,  need  only  be  briefly  considered. 

Consumers^  Cooperation  in  England.  The  first  practically 
successful  cooperative  stores  were  organized  in  Rochdale, 
England,  in  1844.  Other  movements,  however,  preceded  the 
attempts  of  the  ''Rochdale  Society."  Robert  Owen  was 
much  interested  in  the  movement.  According  to  the  late 
Professor  Frank  Parsons,  in  1830  there  were  250  cooperative 
societies  in  England.  But  the  weavers  of  Rochdale  seem  to 
have  been  the  true  pioneers  in  this  important  movement. 
Since  186 1  the  growth  of  consumers'  cooperation  has  been 
quite  remarkable.  During  the  period  of  forty  years,  1861- 
1901,  the  population  of  Great  Britain  increased  approximately 

*  Schloss,  Ittdustrial  Remuneration,  p.  240. 


INDUSTRIAL  REMUNERATION 


231 


43  per  cent;  the  value  of  the  manufactured  products,  52  per 
cent;  the  value  of  the  international  commerce,  130  per  cent; 
and  the  consumers'  and  producers'  cooperative  business,  5,300 
per  cent;  or  from  £1,512,117  to  £81,782,949  in  1901.  In  1906 
the  value  of  the  sales  was  £97,937,757.  In  the  forty  years, 
the  membership  of  the  societies  is  reported  to  have  increased 
from  48,184  to  more  than  2,000,000.  In  1906  the  British 
Cooperative  Union  was  composed  of  2  wholesale  societies, 
1,448  retail  societies,  and  131  productive  societies.  About  413 
societies  out  of  the  total  of  1,448  were  engaged  in  cooperative 
housing  schemes.  The  societies  build  houses  and  rent  them 
to  their  members,  build  and  sell  houses  to  their  members, 
and  loan  money  to  their  members  for  the  purpose  of  building 
homes.  ^ 

By  1918,  the  cooperative  societies  of  Great  Britain  were 
doing  an  annual  business  of  about  $1,000,000,000.  The  num- 
ber of  cooperatives  was  approximately  4,000,000.  At  the 
opening  of  the  War,  the  British  cooperative  societies  were 
important  factors  in  controlling  food  prices.  The  wholesale 
stores  are  controlled  by  the  retail  stores.  The  profits  of  the 
wholesale  stores  are  divided  among  the  retail  stores  just  as 
the  profits  of  the  latter  are  distributed  among  the  individual 
members.  The  wholesale  societies  conduct  many  factories, 
have  banking  and  insurance  departments,  own  coal  mines 
and  farms.  The  profits  of  the  factories  and  farms  go  to  swell 
the  income  of  the  wholesale  establishments.  Mr.  Gray,  of 
Manchester,  England,  states  that  "in  all  workshops  and 
factories  belonging  to  the  wholesale  societies,  the  workers  are 
employed  under  the  best  conditions  as  regards  their  work- 
shops and  general  surroundings,  and  in  all  cases  enjoy  the 
standard  rate  of  wages  fixed  by  the  trade  union  for  their 
particular  industry,  and  in  some  cases  have  much  shorter 
hours  of  labor."      The  cooperative  establishments  of  Great 

*  Parsons,  The  Arena,  1903;    Gray,  The  Arena,  March,  1908. 


1:1  f 

lip 


i'^ 


li 


232    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

Britain  constitute  one  of  the  great  businesses  of  the  world. 
It  is  a  business  that  *'  has  never  been  accused  of  raising  prices, 
has  not  created  even  a  moderate  fortune  for  anybody,  has 
not  a  single  officer  who  is  a  'magnate,'  a  'captain  of  industry/ 
or  even  a  ' high  financier.'  It  has  no  securities  on  the  market, 
and  has  never  had  an  underwriting  syndicate.  Some  British 
cooperatives  have  extensive  libraries;  classes  in  art,  science, 
and  literature,  and  lectures  upon  a  variety  of  subjects  are 
conducted  under  the  auspices  of  the  societies;  concerts, 
entertainments,  and  excursions  are  arranged  for  the  members; 
and  some  societies  conduct  evening  continuation  schools. 

Consumers^  Cooperation  in  the  United  States}  In  the 
United  States,  some  ephemeral  attempts  were  made  soon 
after  1831,  by  the  New  England  Association  of  Farmers  and 
Mechanics,  to  organize  cooperative  stores.  The  life  of  these 
ventures  into  untried  fields  was  short.  During  that  unique 
period  of  the  forties  and  fifties,  characterized  by  an  extraordi- 
nary amount  of  social  and  political  ferment,  cooperative 
stores  were  organized  by  associations  of  farmers  and  mechan- 
ics. Many  stores,  possibly  as  many  as  seven  hundred,  were 
doing  business  at  one  time  in  the  early  fifties;  but  with  the 
opening  of  the  Civil  War  came  the  abrupt  termination  of  the 
movement.  In  the  last  years  of  the  war  there  was  much 
labor  agitation  and  discontent  among  the  workers,  and  some 
ephemeral  cooperative  stores  were  established.  Soon  after 
the  war  ended,  cooperative  associations  were  formed  in  con- 
nection with  certain  farmers'  organizations  and  some  labor 
unions. 

The  Patrons  of  Husbandry,  popularly  known  as  the  Gran- 
gers, established  many  cooperative  stores  in  the  early  seventies. 
In  1876  the  highest  officer  of  the  order  said:  —  "Hundreds, 
and  it  may  be,  thousands  of  cooperative  stores  have  been 

1  The  source  chiefly  used  in  preparing  this  section  is  the  excellent  monograph 
on  "Cooperative  Stores,"  written  by  Prof.  Ira  B.  Cross. 


<r 


INDUSTRIAL  REMUNERATION 


n^ 


established  in  the  various  States  and  Territories  of  the 
Union  with  various  amounts  of  capital,  and  perhaps  as  va- 
rious in  other  features  and  in  their  fortunes."  At  one  time 
there  were  grange  stores  in  nearly  every  county  in  Ohio  and  in 
one-half  of  the  counties  of  Illinois.  "The  enthusiasm  of  the 
Grangers  for  cooperation  gradually  died  away  as  prosperity 
followed  the  panic  of  1873,  and  with  the  relaxation  which 
usually  follows  the  rapid  growth  of  any  organization." 

Cooperation  was  a  basic  principle  of  the  Knights  of  Labor; 
and  a  considerable  number  of  cooperative  stores  were  estab- 
lished during  the  period,  1 881-1888,  under  the  auspices  of 
that  labor  organization.  During  the  latter  part  of  the  eighties, 
the  Farmers'  Alliance  was  active  in  "propagating  coopera- 
tive ideas  among  Southern  farmers."  Since  1890  sundry  co- 
operative unions  have  striven  to  promote  the  organization  of 
cooperative  stores.  In  1905  Mr.  Cross  found  343  coopera- 
tive stores  doing  business  in  the  United  States.  Of  this 
number,  68  were  located  in  California;  34  in  Kansas;  30  in 
Wisconsin;  26  in  Massachusetts;  and  22  in  Washington. 
"Judging  from  the  returns  received  from  170  of  these  estab- 
lishments the  above  343  stores  represent  an  estimated  capitali- 
zation of  $8,520,809.00,  a  membership  of  approximately  76,146 
persons,  and  a  trade  of  about  $265,526,743.00.  In  1920,  it 
was  estimated  that  there  were  in  the  United  States  approxi- 
mately 3,000  consumers'  cooperative  associations  having  a 
combined  annual  business  of  $200,000,000.  These  associa- 
tions deal  in  one  or  more  of  a  variety  of  supplies,  including 
groceries,  meats,  dry  goods,  school  supplies,  shoes,  fuel,  grain, 
farm  machinery,  hardware.  California,  Washington  and 
Illinois  are  important  centers  of  the  cooperative  movement. 
The  Non -Partisan  League  has  a  chain  of  stores  in  the  Dakotas. 
The  Finns  have  established  many  cooperative  stores.^ 

*  Monthly  Labor  Review,  March,  1920,  pp.  138-145;   Perky,  "Cooperation 
in  the  United  States,"  The  Intercollegiate  Socialist,  April-May,  191 7. 


li 


f 

llii 

Itf ' 


I'    ' 

I,*  A' 


234     HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

The  cooperative  movement  in  this  country  has  not  been 
notably  successful.  It  has  been  termed  an  "almost  utter 
failure. '*  Mr.  Cross  presents  several  reasons  for  the  slow 
progress  of  cooperation  in  the  United  States,  (a)  Many  of 
the  cooperative  movements  grew  out  of  certain  farmers'  and 
workers'  movements;  and  both  movements  collapsed  together. 
(6)  The  cooperative  stores  have  not  been  well  organized.  Al- 
though they  have  met  bitter  opposition,  few  protective  asso- 
ciations have  been  formed.  One  cooperative  association  has 
known  little  about  the  status  of  other  associations.  Few 
state  or  national  conferences  have  been  held,  (c)  Until  re- 
cently no  cooperative  wholesale  houses  existed;  and  the  regu- 
lar wholesale  houses  discriminated  against  the  cooperative 
store,  id)  The  competition  of  five-  and  ten-cent  stores, 
department  stores,  mail  order  houses,  and  trading  stamp 
schemes,  has  ruined  many  cooperative  establishments,  (e) 
The  American  people  have  been  too  individualistic;  coopera- 
tion has  not  appealed  to  them.  Undoubtedly,  this  cause  of 
failure  is  losing  its  potency.  (/)  The  mobility  of  the  American 
people  has  militated  against  cooperative  associations,  (g) 
Americans  have  been  too  impetuous  and  impatient  of  slow 
gains  to  make  good  members  of  a  cooperative  association;  and 
"our  comparatively  high  standard  of  living  has  not  forced  us 
to  acquire  the  penny  saving  habit  so  common  among  the  Euro- 
peans." (li)  Americans  desire  a  variety  of  food  and  of  cloth- 
ing. This  non-standardized  taste  makes  cooperation  difficult. 
Only  stores  with  a  considerable  amount  of  capital  can  suc- 
cessfully compete  when  it  is  necessary  to  carry  a  large  and 
varied  stock,  (i)  The  disdain  of  the  farmer  and  the  wage 
earner  for  expert  managerial  skill  has  caused  many  failures. 
A  man  taken  from  the  farm  or  out  of  the  shop  without  any 
business  experience  will  rarely  make  a  successful  manager  of 
a  cooperative  store.  "Poor  business  methods,  injudicious 
purchases,  over-stocking,  wastes  in  weighing,  and  many  other 


</ 


INDUSTRIAL   REMUNERATION 


235 


t 


. 


practices,  all  of  which  bring  disastrous  results,  are  very  prom- 
inent in  the  cooperative  movement." 

The  difference  between  the  ordinary  joint-stock  company 
and  a  cooperative  association  managing  a  store,  is  quite 
marked.  In  the  cooperative  store,  a  fixed  rate  of  interest  is 
paid  upon  the  capital  stock;  the  remainder  of  the  profits  is 
distributed  to  the  purchasers  as  dividends.  As  a  rule,  the 
dividends  are  paid  only  to  the  purchasers  who  are  also  mem- 
bers of  the  association.  A  member  is  allowed  only  one  vote 
even  though  he  may  own  several  shares  of  stock;  and  voting 
by  proxy  is  usually  not  allowed.  As  a  rule,  goods  are  bought 
and  sold  for  cash.  The  sale  price  is  usually  the  ordinary 
amount  of  their  purchases. 

Distributors^   Cooperation.     In   this   class  are   found   such 
enterprises  as  cooperative  creameries,  cooperative  elevators 
for  the  grain  of  the  Western  farmer,  and  cooperative  associa- 
tions for  the  purpose  of  growing  and  marketing  raisins.  The 
cooperative   elevators   are   established   by   combinations   of 
farmers  in  order  to  cope  successfully  with  the  so-called  "grain- 
buyers'    trust."    The    California    Raisin    Growing   Associa- 
tion, formed  in   1898,  was  evidently  organized  to  control 
prices.    Every  member  of  the  association  is  required  to  sign 
a  contract  putting  the  management  of  his  raisin  crop  in  the 
hands  of  the  association.     The  raisins  are  to  be  packed  and 
marketed  in  such  a  manner  as  seems  best  to  the  officers  of  the 
association.     Each  member  delivers  his  raisins  to  an  associa- 
tion packing  house.     An  inspector  of  the  association  weighs 
them  and  credits  the  amount  to  the  growers.     It  was  estimated 
(1919)  that  four-fifths  of  the  citrus  fruit  grown  in  California 
was  sold  by  cooperative  associations.     A  large  percentage  of 
the  apples  grown  in  the  North  Pacific  States  is  also  marketed 
by  cooperative  associations.     In  the  grain-growing  states, 
farmers  have  organized  large  numbers  of  cooperative  elevators. 
It  was  estimated  in  1919  that  there  were  in  the  United  States 


I. 


:':  i 


r 


I  <  i 


[it 

■  t 


236    HISTORY   AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

2,cxx>  cooperative  cheese  factories  and  3,000  cooperative 
creameries.  Other  forms  of  cooperation  in  which  farmers 
are  interested  are  live-stock  selling  and  meat  packing.  The 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  estimated  in  191 7 
that  there  were  nearly  5,500  farmers'  cooperative  organiza- 
tions of  all  kinds  doing  an  annual  volume  of  business  of  over 
$625,000,000.^  Such  associations  are  of  little  importance  to 
the  wage  earner;  they  are  examples  of  middle-class  coopera- 
tion. And  many  of  the  farmers'  organizations  depart  quite 
widely  from  the  true  cooperative  basis. 

Credit  Cooperation.  Credit  cooperation  has  attained  its 
greatest  success  in  Germany  especially  among  the  farmers  of 
that  country.  Friedrich  Wilhelm  Raiffeison  was  the  origi- 
nator of  the  Cooperative  Credit  Associations  of  Germany. 
The  movement  started  about  the  middle  of  last  century.  In 
1907,  there  were  15,600  societies  composed  of  over  two  million 
members.  By  means  of  these  associations  the  farmers, 
small  business  men,  and  the  wage  earners  are  enabled  to 
borrow  at  reasonable  rates  of  interest.  One  authority  on 
agricultural  conditions  in  Germany  declared  that  "the  Ger- 
man peasantry  were  saved  from  ruin  when  by  means  of 
cooperation  personal  credit  was  established."  The  wage 
earners,  however,  do  not  appear  to  have  profited  in  any  con- 
siderable degree  by  the  establishment  of  such  associations. 
But  the  farmers  have  been  saved  from  the  clutches  of  the 
astute  and  avaricious  money  lender. 

The  shares  in  these  associations  are  small.  No  individual 
is  allowed  to  own  more  than  one  share,  and  dividends  are 
limited  to  a  rate  not  higher  than  that  paid  on  money  loaned 
by  the  association.  Each  member  is  individually  liable  for 
all  the  debts  of  the  association;  but  in  actual  practice  this 
provision  has  worked  little  or  no  hardship  as  each  member 
IS  led  to  take  a  personal  interest  in  the  matter  of  loans  and 

*  Monthly  Labor  Review,  March,  1919. 


INDUSTRIAL  REMUNERATION 


237 


administration  of  the  affairs  of  the  association.  Men  of 
abiUty  are  placed  in  control,  and  a  rigid  system  of  supervision 
is  exercised.  Each  request  for  a  loan  is  followed  by  a  careful 
investigaton  as  to  the  pecuniary  abihty  of  the  individual 
desiring  the  loan,  as  to  the  security  offered,  and  as  to  the 
utility  of  the  probable  use  of  the  funds  desired  The  care- 
less, shiftless,  and  improvident  will  be  refused  loans  while 
the  careful  and  thrifty  will  be  accommodated.  Speculation 
is  reduced  to  a  minimum. 

At  least  three  states  —  Massachusetts,  New  York  and 
North  Carolina  —  have  enacted  laws  authorizing  the  estab- 
lishment of  credit  unions.  At  a  meeting,  called  the  AU- 
American  Farmer-Labor  Cooperative  Congress,  held  in 
February,  1920,  and  attended  chiefly  by  representatives  of 
railway  unions  and  farmers'  organizations,  much  emphasis 
was  laid  upon  the  importance  of  credit  unions.  "It  seemed 
to  be  accepted  all  around  as  a  primer  axiom  that  nothing 
alive,  continuous,  permanent  and  worth  while  as  a  cooperative 
movement  can  be  set  in  motion  until  a  sound  working  system 
of  banks  and  credit  unions  is  established."  ^  Some  interest- 
ing tentative  proposals  were  also  made  at  this  meeting.  It 
was  suggested  that  a  chain  of  "peoples'  banks"  be  estabUshed 
and  that  the  railway  brotherhoods  transfer  their  funds,  said 
to  be  over  $40,000,000,  to  these  banks.  The  president  of  the 
Brotherhood  of  Maintenance  of  Way  Men  is  reported  to  have 
stated  that  his  organization  had  spent  over  $1,000,000  in  the 
purchase  of  factories  and  knitting  mills  to  manufacture  socks, 
sweaters,  underwear,  etc.,  for  the  members  of  the  union.  It 
was  proposed  to  bind  the  cooperative  selling  associations  of 
the  farmers  and  the  cooperative  stores  and  the  factories  of 
the  workers  into  a  harmonious  system.  Said  a  representa- 
tive of  the  farmers:  —  "We  are  ready  to  shake  hands  over  the 
city  gate  with  you  labor  men  and  cut  the  high  cost  of  living." 

^  The  Survey,  February  21,  1920. 


l;-i 


I ) 


n 


238    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

Building  and  Loan  Associations;  This  restricted  form  of 
credit  association  is  found  chiefly  in  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States.  It  is  used  almost  solely  to  aid  wage  earners 
and  small  salaried  workers  in  acquiring  a  home.  Small  sums 
of  money  are  collected  from  all  members  and  loaned  to  certain 
members  deskous  of  building  or  purchasing  a  home.  An 
appeal  is  made  to  the  pride  of  home  building  and  home  own- 
ing. The  typical  association  is  local  in  scope.  A  group  of 
people  living  in  a  city  or  town  agree  to  merge  their  savings 
in  a  fund  for  building  homes.  A  corporation  is  organized  in 
which  a  member  of  the  group  becomes  a  stockholder  to  the 
extent  of  one  or  more  shares.  A  share  in  a  Building  and  Loan 
Association  is  usually  valued  at  $200;  but  payments  may  be 
made  in  small  monthly  instalments.  Interest  is  allowed  upon 
the  sums  paid  in;  and  the  interest  thus  credited  reduces  the 
total  amount  of  the  payment.  The  money  collected  monthly 
is  loaned  to  members  to  be  used  to  build  or  purchase  homes 
under  the  supervision  of  the  officers  of  the  Association.  No 
sum  larger  than  the  face  value  of  the  shares  for  which  the 
member  has  subscribed  is  loaned.  The  property  is  held  as 
security  by  the  Association.  The  loan  is  usually  made  to  the 
one  who  offers  the  highest  premium  in  addition  to  the  cus- 
tomary rate  of  interest.  A  borrowing  member  pays  the 
interest  on  his  loan  and  the  monthly  instalment  on  the  share 
which  he  holds;  but  eventually  the  paid-up  stock  is  used  to 
cancel  the  debt.  The  following  table  presents  statistics  of 
the  building  and  loan  associations  of  the  United  States: 

Year  Number  of  Associations  Assets                   Membership 

189s                            5,973  $624,700,318 

1900                           5.490  614,119,175 

1905                            5,326  646,765,047  1,686,611 

1918                            7,269  1,769,142,175  3,838,612 

Through  the  instnmientality  of  these  associations  many 
skilled  workers  and  salaried  men  have  become  real  estate 


INDUSTRIAL  REMUNERATION 


239 


owners,  thus  increasing  the  nimiber  of  conservative  w^age 
earners.  The  great  majority  of  workers  whose  wages  are 
small  are  not  affected  by  this  method  of  cooperation,  as  their 
wages  are  insufficient  to  allow  them  to  become  members. 
The  increasing  value  of  real  estate  and  the  increasing  cost  of 
building  material  are  factors  which  militate  against  the  system. 
The  insecurity  of  the  job  of  the  average  unskilled  or  semi- 
skilled worker  makes  him  hesitate  about  joining  a  Building 
and  Loan  Association.  Finally,  many  labor  unionists  be- 
lieve that  employers  will  take  advantage  of  the  home  owning 
employees,  and  will  lower,  or  refuse  to  increase,  their  wages. 
The  home-owning  employee  must  accept  the  situation  or  move 
and  perhaps  dispose  of  his  home  at  a  financial  sacrifice.  The 
Building  and  Loan  Association  offers  no  important  aid  to 
the  average  member  of  a  labor  organization. 

Producers'*  Cooperation.  In  the  pure  and  simple  form  of 
producers'  cooperation  a  number  of  workers  unite  to  operate 
a  productive  enterprise.  They  furnish  or  borrow  the  capital, 
and  elect  the  manager  of  the  business.  The  ultimate  control 
of  the  enterprise  rests  with  the  workers  not  with  the  owners 
of  capital.  Each  worker  is  allowed  one  vote;  and  all  workers 
in  the  establishment  are  admitted  to  membership.  Such  is 
producers'  cooperation  in  its  normal  condition.  Such  a 
system  is  theoretically  excellent;  it  appeals  to  the  idealist. 
In  actual  practice,  however,  producers'  cooperation  has  en- 
countered many  obstacles. 

The  gilds  of  the  medieval  period  were  in  reality  forms  of 
producers'  cooperation.  The  employer  or  capitalist  function 
was  not  as  yet  differentiated  from  that  of  the  workmen. 
With  the  downfall  of  the  gild  system,  producers'  cooperation 
vanished.  The  first  isolated  example  of  a  cooperative  society 
of  producers  is  found  in  England  in  1777.  A  few  tailors  on  a 
strike  formed  a  cooperative  association.  But  France  is  the 
real  cradle  of  producers'  cooperation.     A  society  of  jewelers 


111 


'M 


I'  \ 

■  4     i 


240    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

was  formed  in  1833,  a  decade  before  the  attempt  of  the 
Rochdale  Pioneers.  The  revolutionary  disturbances  in  1848 
ushered  in  many  attempts  at  cooperative  activity.  The  gov- 
ernment loaned  money  to  certain  associations,  and  favored 
associated  groups  of  workmen  in  granting  public  contracts. 
This  movement  was  based  on  the  quicksands  of  enthusiam 
and  sentimentality.  Failure  was  the  end  of  practically  all  of 
these  ephemeral  and  subsidized  ventures.  A  small  number  of 
these  associations  are  found  in  France  at  the  present  time. 
In  England,  a  few  associations  are  also  in  existence. 

In  the  United  States,  attempts  have  also  been  made  to 
establish  producers'  cooperative  establishments.  There  is 
reason  to  believe  that  in  1730  a  cooperative  movement  was 
started  among  the  fishermen  of  New  England.  The  first 
well-authenticated  movements  were  those  of  the  Philadelphia 
cabinet  makers  in  1833,  the  molders  of  Cincinnati  in  1848,  and 
the  Boston  tailors  in  1849.  During  the  decade  of  the  eighties, 
the  Knights  of  Labor  were  responsible  for  the  organization  of 
many  cooperative  associations.  The  most  famous  and  suc- 
cessful of  the  American  attempts  is  that  of  the  coopers  of 
Minneapolis.  The  first  endeavor  was  made  in  1868;  a  second 
venture  was  started  in  1870.  These  were  failures.  A  third 
attempt  was  made  in  1874,  and  an  association  was  formed 
which  is  still  doing  business.  In  1886  there  were  seven  co- 
operative companies;  in  1905,  only  three  of  these  survived. 
Other  companies  have  started  since  1886,  but  all  have  ceased 
to  do  business.  Two  out  of  four  private  cooperage  shops 
have  disappeared  since  1886.  The  cooperage  business  as  an 
adjunct  to  the  flouring  industry  of  Minneapolis  is  a  declining 
industry.  In  1890,  45  per  cent  of  the  flour  was  packed  in 
barrels;  in  1905,  only  about  20  per  cent.  The  actual  number 
of  barrels  used  for  flour  is  not  increasing.  The  stationary 
condition  of  the  industry  is,  of  course,  not  favorable  to  the 
growth  and  prosperity  of  cooperative  establishments.    The 


INDUSTRIAL  REMUNERATION 


241 


assets  of  the  three  cooperative  companies  surviving  in  19 17 
was,  however,  somewhat  greater  than  in  1886.  The  cooper- 
ative companies  hire  some  non -members;  and  evidences  may 
be  discerned  of  a  tendency  toward  joint-stockism.  The  organ- 
ization of  cooperative  establishments  among  the  Minneapolis 
coopers  has  given  greater  permanence  and  regularity  of  em- 
ployment to  the  membership  of  the  association;  it  has  im- 
proved and  strengthened  the  character  of  the  workers;  and  it 
has  proven  that  democratic  control  does  not  necessarily  in- 
volve dishonesty,  insubordination,  or  frequent  changes  in  the 
personnel  of  the  management.^ 

The  longshoremen  have  utilized  producers'  cooperation  in 
a  simple  but  interesting  manner.  The  locals  have  divided 
their  members  into  gangs.  Each  gang  elects  its  own  foreman; 
and  the  union  distributes  the  work  among  the  gangs.  The 
foreman  collects  the  wages  for  the  entire  gang,  and  divides 
the  amount  equally  among  the  members,  himself  included. 
The  union  is  practically  a  contractor.  Loafing  is  corrected 
by  the  public  sentiment  of  the  gang,  as  it  is  to  the  interest  of 
the  gang  that  all  work  and  work  efficiently. 

It  is  difficult  for  manual  laborers  to  give  sufficient  weight 
to  managerial  ability.  Cooperating  workmen  are  usually 
loath  to  pay  sufficient  wages  to  secure  an  efficient  manager; 
nor  are  they  willing  to  give  him  sufficient  authority  in  the 
management  of  the  plant.  Industrial  democracy,  as  found  in 
producers'  cooperation,  has  thus  far  exhibited  the  faults  of 
early  political  democracy  —  lack  of  emphasis  upon  experience 
and  expertness,  frequent  changes  in  officials,  and  the  like.  Up 
to  the  present  time,  with  a  few  exceptions,  capitalistic  man- 
agement of  business  enterprises  has  proven  far  more  success- 
ful than  management  by  employees. 

Prosperous  producers'  cooperative  establishments  usually 
deliberately  sacrifice  the  fundamental  principles  of  cooperation 

*  virtue,  Quarterly  Journal  of  Ecottomics.     Vol.  19:  527-544. 


I'.'' 
it't- 


lii 


242    HISTORY   AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

by  refusing  to  admit  new  members  as  equal  associates.  The 
cooperative  society  tends  to  change  into  a  joint-stock  com- 
pany. In  1900  the  spectacle  makers  of  Paris  had  about  fifty 
members,  fifty  "adherents"  or  candidates  for  membership, 
and  1200  paid  employees.  The  members  were  wealthy; 
and  the  society  was  in  reality  nothing  more  than  a  partner- 
ship or  a  joint-stock  company.  The  genuine  cooperative 
form  has  entirely  vanished.  Prosperity  and  the  desire  to 
keep  control  of  the  profits  led  to  the  breakdown  of  the  cooper- 
ative establishment.  A  cooperative  association  was  formed 
in  1902  by  the  employees  in  the  polishing  and  plating  depart- 
ment of  the  Eastman  Kodak  Company.  This  association 
was  placed  in  the  hands  of  nine  directors.  Any  person  wish- 
ing to  withdraw  must  first  offer  his  interest  to  the  company. 
In  less  than  three  years,  the  number  of  cooperators  was 
reduced  to  five;  but  these  five  cooperators  were  hiring  men 
to  help  them.  "  Moreover,  an  open  shop  had  been  established, 
and  the  demands  of  the  local  union  were  declared  too  extreme 
to  be  considered."  The  thirty-four  men  who  organized  the 
society  were  union  men  in  1902.  This  experience  shows  how 
passing  from  the  status  of  employee  to  that  of  an  employer 
modifies  the  point  of  view.  It  also  further  illustrates  the 
dangers  which  face  a  producers'  cooperative  association.^ 
The  "Nations"  of  Antwerp  also  furnish  a  very  interesting 
instance  of  the  disastrous  effect  of  prosperity  upon  a  coopera- 
tive association  of  producers.  Practically  all  the  loading  and 
unloading  of  vessels  in  the  port  of  Antwerp  are  done  by  cooper- 
ative gangs  or  ' '  nations. ' '  These  gangs  were  originally  formed 
upon  a  purely  cooperative  basis.  Within  the  last  forty  or 
fifty  years  those  on  the  inside  have  refused  to  take  in  new 
members.  The  society  is  now  virtually  a  firm  of  well-to-do 
contractors,  and  the  characteristic  marks  of  a  sweating  system 
have  appeared. 

»  Adams  and  Sumner,  pp.  418-419. 


INDUSTRIAL  REMUNERATION 


243 


Difficulties  often  arise  because  of  the  lack  of  capital,  or  the 
inability  to  find  customers  in  the  face  of  fierce  competition 
from  non-cooperative  business.     Unless  the  work  is  practically 
of  a  uniform  character  it  is  difficult  to  make  a  satisfactory 
division  of  profits.      Again,  when  losses  instead  of  profits 
appear  the  danger  of  disruption  is  not  small.     The  menace 
is  a  double  one.     When  successful,  a  producers'  cooperative 
society  is  in  danger  of  degenerating  into  a  joint-stock  com- 
pany; when  its  success  is  uncertain  and  profits  small,  disrup- 
tion is  almost  certain  to  follow.    A  producers'  cooperative 
establishment  is  most  likely  to  be  successful  {a)  when  it  is 
operated  in  connection  with  a  consumers'  cooperative  estab- 
lishment, (b)  in  a  business  which  is  not  complex,  (c)  when  the 
importance  of  managerial  ability  is  not  great,  (d)  when  there 
is  little  difference  in  the  skill  required  of  the  various  workers, 
and  (e),  as  in  the  case  of  profit  sharing,  among  workers  who 
have  not  been  pushed  to  the  limit  of  their  productive  capacity. 
Conclusion.    The  cooperative  store  eliminates  certain  wastes 
in  the  competitive  field;  but  the  large  department  store  ac- 
complishes the  same  results.     In  one  case,  the  consumers 
receive  a  larger  percentage  of  the  reduction  in  the  cost  of 
doing  business  than  in  the  other.     If,  however,  the  reduc- 
tion in  the  cost  of  living  due  to  the  economies  resulting 
from  membership  in  a  consumers'  cooperative    association 
makes  possible  a  reduction  in  wages  or  prevents  an  increase 
in  wages,  consumers'  cooperation  may  be  of  little  or  no  real 
value  to  the  wage  earner.    And  if  wages  in  certain  industries 
are  to  be  fixed  in  the  future  by  means  of  a  careful  estimate  of 
the  cost  of  living,  made  by  wage  boards  or  boards  of  arbi- 
tration, the  value  of  cooperative  buying  to  the  wage  earner 
in  those  industries  is  problematical.     It  may  be  asserted  that, 
if  the  wage  earner  is  enabled  to  retain  the  profits  of  coopera- 
tive buying,  consumers'  cooperation  must  be  accompanied 
by  strong  union  organization. 


hi 


Vi 

It  I 

I 


244    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

Unless  consumers'  and  producers'  cooperative  enterprises 
are  united  there  is  an  essential  element  of  antagonism  between 
these  two  forms  of  cooperative  endeavor.  The  former  seek- 
ing to  reduce  prices,  while  the  latter  is  interested  in  raising  the 
price  of  its  own  products.  Producers'  cooperative  associa- 
tions come  into  competition  with  each  other  in  the  same  way 
that  competition  arises  between  rival  non-cooperative  firms. 
Only  as  these  enterprises  become  nation-wide  is  the  element 
of  rivalry  and  competition  eUminated.  In  that  case  a  con- 
dition approximating  sociaUsm  is  attained,  and  voluntary 
cooperation  would  pass  into  compulsory  cooperation.  The 
benefits  to  be  derived  by  the  wage  earners  through  coopera- 
tive activity  "are  limited  by  the  possibilities  of  the  two  va- 
rieties of  cooperation,  the  one  which  gives  the  profits  to  the 
purchaser,  but  cannot  raise  wages,  and  the  other  which  gives 
the  profits  to  the  producer,  but  cannot  prevent  the  action  of 
cut-throat  competition."  ^  Cooperation  is  not  a  substitute  for 
trade  unionism.  If  used  in  conjunction  with  trade-union 
action  it  may  be  of  value  to  the  wage  earner;  but  there  may 
be  danger  of  weakening  trade  unionism  by  looking  constantly 
at  the  small  gains  to  be  derived  through  cooperation. 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

A  Fair  Wage 

Carlton,  "Modern  Medievalism,"  Popular  Science  Monthly.    Vol.  77: 

56-60. 

Ryan,  A  Living  Wage.    Section  2. 

Progressive  Wage 

Schloss,  Industrial  Remuneration ,  pp.  1-226. 

Gantt,  "The  Bonus  System  of  Rewarding  Labor,"  The  Review  of 
Reviews,  September,  1902. 

Commons,  Trade  Unionism  and  Labor  Problems,  pp.  270-288. 

*  Adams  and  Sumner,  p.  431. 


INDUSTRIAL  REMUNERATION 


245 


"The  Premium  Plan,"  American  Machinist,  March  9,  1899. 
Benjamin,   "Review  of  the   Wage   Problem,"   Gassier' s   Magazine. 
Vol.  26:  310-315. 

Abbott,  The  Outlook,  January  7,  191 1. 

Commons,  American  Economic  Review,  September,  191 1. 

Taylor,  The  Principles  of  Scientific  Management. 

Profit  Sharing 

Gilman,  Profit  Sharing. 

Schloss,  Industrial  Remuneration,  pp.  239-309. 
Adams  and  Sumner,  Labor  Problems.     Ch.  9. 
Hadley,  Economics.    Ch.  12. 
Bolen,  Getting  a  Living.     Ch.  5. 

Clark,   "Profit   Sharing,   Old  and   New,"   Harper's  Monthly.     Vol. 
no:  772-776. 

Cabot,  "An  Instance  of  Profit  Sharing,"  Review  of  Reviews.    Vol.  26: 
325-326. 

Wellman,    "Profit    Sharing   in   the   Steel    Corporation,"   Review   of 
Reviews.     Vol.  27:  326. 

Commons,  "Welfare  Work  in  a  Great  Industrial  Establishment," 
Review  of  Reviews,  July,  1903. 

Rayburn,  "Welfare  Work  from  the  Employee's  Standpoint,"  The 
Ghautauguan.     Vol.  43:  332-334. 

Cariton,  "The  Golden-Rule  Factory,"  The  Arena.    Vol.  32:  408. 
Jones,  Administration  of  Industrial  Enterprises.     Chs.  14  and  15. 
Tolman,  Social  Engineering. 

Fitch,  "Ford  of  Detroit,"  The  Survey,  February  7,  1914. 
Cardullo,  "Industrial  Betterment,"  Machinery,  November,  191 5. 
Bulletin  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.    Nos.  123,  208. 

Gooperation 

Cross,  "Cooperative  Stores."  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  and 
Industrial  Statistics,  Wisconsin.  1906. 

Adams  and  Sumner,  Labor  Problems.     Ch.  10. 

Hadley,  Economics.     Ch.  12. 

Schloss,  Industrial  Remuneration,  pp.  3 10-365. 

Lockwood,  The  New  Harmony  Movement.      Ch.  21. 

Parsons,  "The  Rise  and  Progress  of  Cooperation  in  Europe,"  The 
Arena.    Vol.  30:  27-36. 


11 


I 


246    HISTORY   AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

Monroe,  "Profit  Sharing  and  Cooperation,"  American  Journal  of 
Sociology.     March-May,  1899.     Vol.  4. 

Virtue,  "The  Cooperative  Coopers  of  Minneapolis,"  Quarterly  Journal 
of  Economics.     Vol.  19:  527-544. 

Gore,  "Nations  of  Antwerp,"  Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor.     No. 

17  (1898). 

Gide,  "Productive   Cooperation   in  France,"  Quarterly  Journal  of 

Economics.     Vol.  14:  30-66. 

Ford,  Cooperation  in  New  England,  Urban  atul  Rural. 

Monthly  Labor  Review,  especially,  March,  1919,  and  April,  1920. 


i 


:* ' 


CHAPTER  IX 1 

SCIENTIFIC   MANAGEMENT,  OLD  AND  NEW 

The  term  industrial  revolution  is  very  familiar;  it  has 
been  applied  to  the  rapid  adoption  of  new  tools,  machines  and 
scientific  processes.  But  "social  invention"  is  typical  of 
the  present  epoch.  What  may  be  tabulated  imder  the  head 
of  social  invention,  efl&ciency  engineering,  or  scientific  man- 
agement? Efficient  combinations  of  labor-saving  machines, 
accurate  information  as  to  the  time  and  energy  required  to 
do  specific  jobs,  motion  studies  of  different  craftsmen,  and 
psychological  and  sociological  studies  of  the  kinds  of  in- 
centives which  most  stimulate  workers  to  do  their  work  ef- 
ficiently and  with  interest  —  these  are  some  of  the  important 
planks  in  an  efficiency  program. 

Industry  may  be  studied  from  the  technical  or  non-human 
side  or  from  the  human  side.  Industrial  experts  have  devoted 
much  attention  to  the  study  of  materials  and  machines,  but 
unfortunately  until  quite  recently  only  a  minimum  of  atten- 
tion has  been  directed  to  the  investigation  of  the  most  im- 
portant factor  in  production  —  men  and  women.  In  the 
words  of  another,  "man  is  on  the  way  to  master  inanimate 
things,  but  hitherto  the  failure  has  been  in  treating  human 
beings  too  much  like  things."  Wage  workers  have  been 
treated  as  machines,  as  hands,  as  "factory  fodder."  Without 
exaggeration,  it  may  be  asserted  that  one  of  the  most  import- 
ant, if  not  the  greatest,  economic  problems  of  today  is  that  of 

*  The  greater  portion  of  this  chapter  is  found  in  two  articles  by  the  writer, 
"  Scientific  Management  and  the  Wage  Earner,"  Journal  of  Political  Economy, 
October,  191 2,  Vol.  20;  and  "The  Human  Element  in  Industry,"  Presidential 
Address,  Michigan  Academy  of  Science,  1919. 

247 


Il 


i\ 


248    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

releasing  effectively  and  efficiently  the  productive  energy  of 
human  beings  and  of  groups  of  human  beings.  Few  indi- 
viduals work  up  to  their  possibiUties  and  rarely  are  groups 
of  individuals  properly  and  harmoniously  coordinated  for 
the  most  effective  results.  Factories  are  filled  with  wage 
workers,  but  what  is  needed  is  an  efficient  and  eager  working 
force.  There  is  much  latent  talent  and  energy  in  the  mass 
of  breadwinners  which  is  rarely  utilized  in  productive  in- 
dustry. Our  participation  in  the  World  War  partially  re- 
vealed America's  "tremendous  dormant  industrial  capacity." 
The  older  form  of  efficiency  engineering  of  which  the  greatest 
exponent  was  the  late  F.  W.  Taylor,  laid  the  emphasis  upon 
the  mechanical  elements  involved.  The  more  recent  type 
stresses  the  human  side  of  industry.  The  worker  is  being 
studied  as  a  human  being  rather  than  as  a  machine;  it  is 
recognized  that  physiological,  psychological  and  social  prob- 
lems are  involved  in  any  study  of  industrial  efficiency  and 
management. 

Efficiency  engineering  is  interested  in  two  somewhat  inter- 
related matters.  The  first  is  efficient  systematization  of  the 
work  in  a  given  factory  from  the  engineering  or  the  mechanical 
point  of  view  —  the  routing  of  the  work,  proper  cutting  speeds, 
the  care  of  tools  and  machines,  and  the  like.  The  second 
factor  is  psychological  and  sociological  in  its  nature;  it  relates 
to  the  effective  methods  of  "energizing"  the  workers  by 
providing  potent  incentives  and  by  stimulating  interest  in  the 
work.  The  first  is  the  more  simple  of  the  two  problems  but 
it  cannot  be  carried  out  successfully  without  solving  the 
psychological  problem.  Since  technical  improvements  in 
machine-shop  methods  increase  the  per-capita  output  of  the 
wage  earners,  these  scientific  methods  will  doubtless  be  intro- 
duced, as  were  machines,  in  spite  of  opposition.  Efficient 
methods  of  doing  work  will  sooner  or  later  displace  less 
efficient  methods  just  as,  for  example,  the  steamboat  has 


( 


SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 


249 


displaced  the  sailboat,  the  automobile  is  displacing  the  horse 
upon  the  streets  of  our  cities,  and  the  giant  drop-hammer 
has  displaced  the  village  blacksmith.  The  transformation 
may  be  retarded;  but  the  constant  pressure  of  economic 
forces  will  finally  break  down  all  opposition. 

The  second  portion  of  the  program  of  the  efficiency  engi- 
neers was  neglected  by  the  pioneers  in  scientific  management. 
Mr.  F.  W.  Taylor  wrote:  "This  close,  intimate,  personal 
cooperation  between  the  management  and  the  men  is  of  the 
essence  of  modem  scientffic  or  task  management."  But  he 
apparently  expected  this  cooperation  to  be  brought  about 
by  the  application  of  technical  methods,  by  attention  to  the 
non-human  side  of  industry.  This  part  of  the  program  can- 
not be  secured  by  coercion;  it  can  be  effectively  carried  out 
only  when  the  wage  earners  harmoniously  cooperate  with  the 
managers  in  working  out  the  proposed  plan.  The  fundamental 
problem  of  efficiency  engineering  centers  around  the  treatment 
of  the  wage-earners.  It  is  more  a  problem  concerned  with  the 
relations  existing  between  the  employer  and  his  employees  than 
it  is  a  problem  of  bookkeeping  or  of  the  care  of  machines  or  of 
the  selection  of  tools. 

In  theory,  according  to  its  advocates,  scientific  management 
stands  for  increased  productive  capacity  without  increased 
effort;  it  aims  to  do  away  with  lost  motion  and  useless  move- 
ments. It  means  maximum  results  with  a  minimum  of  effort; 
it  does  not  mean  "frenzied  production."  Now,  these  objects 
are  certainly  worthy  of  approval;  and,  C9nsequently,  oppo- 
sition to  efficiency  engineering  must  arise  because  of  the 
methods  employed  in  carrying  out  the  policy.  Our  attention 
evidently  must  be  directed  toward  this  pertinent  inquiry: 
How,  then,  can  this  "close,  intimate,  personal  cooperation" 
be  secured? 

It  is  perhaps  worth  while  at  the  outset  to  call  attention  to 
the  obvious  fact  that  the  man  who  is  "working  for  himself" 


w 


li 


|l 


I 


r 


hi 


M: 


250    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

does  not  object  to  methods  or  systems  which  Hghten  his  work. 
The  farmer  is  glad  to  obtain  a  tool  which  will  increase  his 
productivity.  Even  the  conservative  wife  of  the  farmer  is 
not  adverse  to  the  installation  of  a  new  or  better  pump,  a 
cream-separator,  or  some  scheme  which  will  save  steps.  Why 
then,  it  may  be  asked,  does  the  wage-earner  so  frequently 
resist  the  introduction  of  new  machinery  or  of  new  and  sci- 
entific methods  of  performing  work?  The  farmer  and  the 
farmer's  wife  do  not  fear  that  the  new  machines  or  methods 
will  cause  them  to  lose  their  positions,  or  that  they  will  be 
called  upon  to  do  much  more  work  for  little  more  pay.  They 
believe,  on  the  contrary,  that  their  income  will  be  increased 
and  the  length  of  their  working-day  reduced.  In  short,  they 
are  confident  that  the  results  of  their  efforts  will  be  multiplied. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  wage  earner  feels  instinctively,  too 
often  as  the  consequence  of  past  experience,  that  the  system  of 
scientific  management  is  some  more  or  less  subtle  scheme  to 
advance  the  interests  of  his  employer  at  the  expense  of  the 
workers  individually  or  as  a  class.  How  can  the  viewpoint  of 
the  worker  be  modified  until  it  coincides  in  this  particular 
with  that  of  the  farmer  or  with  that  of  the  man  who  is  "work- 
ing for  himself"?  This  points  to  another  fundamental 
problem  for  the  efficiency  engineer  to  solve. 

The  wage  earner  is  today  insistently  demanding  that  a 
portion  of  his  share  in  the  advantages  accruing  from  the  in- 
troduction of  improved  machinery  and  of  scientific  manage- 
ment be  given  to  him  in  the  form  of  a  shorter  working-day. 
His  conception  of  a  desirable  form  of  society  in  the  twentieth 
century  is  not  one  in  which  a  certain  number  of  individuals 
work  at  high  speed  during  a  long  working-day,  but  one  in 
which  all  work  during  a  short  working-day.  There  are, 
obviously,  at  least  two  alternative  methods  which  may  be 
pursued  in  producing  a  given  quota  of  economic  goods  and 
services:  a  small  number  of  men  may  be  employed  for  a  long 


SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 


251 


working  day  or  a  larger  number  for  a  shorter  working  day. 
From  the  standpoint  of  the  wage  earner  observing  a  large  and 
apparently  growing  army  of  unemployed,  the  second  alter- 
native is  by  no  means  repulsive.  His  ideal  is  not  necessarily 
maximum  productivity  per  worker  per  day,  but  a  condition 
in  which  work  and  recreation  are  blended  for  each  and  every 
individual.  And,  if  economics  is  "the  reasoned  activity  of 
a  people  tending  toward  the  satisfaction  of  its  needs,"  shall 
the  economist  confidently  assert  that  the  wage  earner's  ideal 
is  one  worthy  only  of  contemptuous  rejection? 

If  scientific  management  has  great  possibilities,  the  effect 
of  its  introduction  may  not  be  unlike  that  caused  by  the  dis- 
placement of  the  hand  tool  by  the  machine.  Not  only  may 
increased  production  be  anticipated,  but  also  the  displace- 
ment of  workers,  temporary  unemployment  for  many,  and  a 
multitude  of  industrial  evils  which  accompany  every  im- 
portant readjustment  in  the  sphere  of  industry.  The  intro- 
duction of  scientific  management  bids  fair  to  cause  "another 
intensive,  resistless  reordering  of  industrial  life."  And  the 
wage  earner,  with  his  skill  as  his  sole  capital,  with  only  a 
small  savings  account  or  none,  and  with  a  family  to  provide 
for,  is  justified  in  manifesting  alarm.  A  "resistless  reordering 
of  industrial  life"  usually  means,  for  many  wage  earners, 
unemployment  and  uncertainty.  John  Stuart  Mill  asserted 
that  "hitherto  it  is  questionable  if  all  the  mechanical  inven- 
tions yet  made  have  lightened  the  day's  toil  of  any  human 
being."    Will  scientific  management  do  so? 

The  employer  and  employee  of  today  are  subjected  to  very 
different  experiences  and  disciplines  in  industry.  The  em- 
ployer moves  in  the  sphere  of  contracts,  buying  and  selling, 
the  non-technical  realm.  The  employee  is  continually  in 
touch  with  the  concrete,  the  crudely  tangible,  the  machine, 
raw  material  and  finished  products.  Both  the  worker  and 
the  manager  are  stamped  and  modified  by  the  pressure  of  the 


f 


Pi 


Hi 


I  ' 


252    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

modern  machine  process.  Scientific  management  carries 
the  machine  discipline  to  its  logical  conclusion.  It  entirely 
eliminates  rule-of-thumb  methods,  guess-work,  personal  initi- 
ative. The  handicraft  method  is  entirely  eUminated.  The 
introduction  of  scientific  management  will  still  further  develop 
the  peculiar  psychology  of  the  wage-earning  class;  it  will  tend 
to  widen  the  already  wide  breach  between  the  machine 
operatives  and  the  middle  class.  Although,  if  accompanied 
by  a  shorter  working  day,  the  experience  gained  during  the 
leisure  hours  may  exert  pressure  in  the  opposite  direction. 
The  psychological  effect  of  the  machine  process  and  of  scientific 
management  is  worthy  of  careful  study. 

Before  passing  to  a  consideration  of  the  conditions  which 
are  requisite  for  the  successful  outcome  of  scientific  manage- 
ment, it  seems  appropriate  to  notice  some  of  the  points  made 
by  Mr.  F.  W.  Taylor  in  his  book,  The  Principles  of  Scientific 
Management.  These  points  have  a  direct  bearing  upon  the 
later  discussion  of  the  topic  under  consideration. 

Mr.  Taylor  declares  that  under  an  adequate  system  of 
scientific  management,  "each  man  should  daily  be  taught  by, 
and  receive  the  most  friendly  help  from,  those  who  are  over 
him,  instead  of  being,  at  the  one  extreme,  driven  or  coerced 
by  his  bosses,  and  at  the  other  left  to  his  own  unaided  devices." 
In  this  manner,  it  is  urged,  "systematic  soldiering"  on  the 
one  hand  and  injurious  speeding-up  on  the  other  hand  will  be 
avoided.  But  is  it  reasonable  to  expect  that  the  workers 
will  willingly  and  contentedly  leave  the  determination  of  the 
definition  of  systematic  soldiering  and  injurious  speeding-up 
to  the  inevitably  prejudiced  judgment  of  their  employers? 
The  views  of  organized  labor  are  well  expressed  in  the  fol- 
lowing sentence:  —  "To  experiments  which  may  be  made  in 
the  name  of  science  to  discover  the  highest  speed  which  a 
machine  can  attain,  its  greatest  capacity  for  production,  and 
the  minimum  length  of  time  in  which  its  usefulness  can  be 


SCIENTIFIC   MANAGEMENT 


253 


exhausted  before  it  is  discarded,  and  thrown  on  the  scrap 
heap,  labor  has  no  objection,"  but  laboring  men  will  object 
to  similar  experiments  performed  upon  themselves.^ 

The  model  workman,  from  the  standpoint  of  the  typical  effi- 
ciency engineer,  is  the  vigorous  man  who  freely  expends  all  of 
his  surplus  energy  during  working  hours  and  who  utilizes  his 
non- working  hours  only  for  recuperation  and  preparation  for 
another  day's  work.  It  is  not  the  purpose  of  efficiency  en- 
gineering to  allow  the  worker  to  depart  from  the  door  of  the 
factory  at  night  with  more  than  a  minimum  of  surplus  energy 
for  recreation,  for  family  life,  for  civic  duties,  or  for  trade- 
union  activities.  In  short,  there  is  little  in  the  actual  pro- 
gram of  efficiency  engineering  which  indicates  that  the  wage 
earner  is  to  be  given  opportunity  for  individual  develop- 
ment —  and  the  various  paternalistic  endeavors  classified  as 
welfare  work  have  not  been  overlooked.  A  human  machine 
rather  than  a  man  is  the  "model  workman."  One  also  finds 
little,  or  more  accurately  nothing,  in  Mr.  Taylor's  book  which 
indicates  that  he  appreciated  or  sympathized  with  the  view- 
point of  the  wage  earner.  Even  the  slaveholder  of  ante- 
bellum days  was  interested  in  "welfare  work."  But,  of 
course,  the  slave  owner  was  interested  in  the  matter  purely 
and  solely  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  the  efficiency  of 
the  slaves  or  of  reducing  the  cost  of  production. 

Mr.  Taylor  informs  us  that  a  long  series  of  experiments  has 
shown  that  an  increase  in  wages  up  to  60  per  cent  beyond  the 
wages  usually  paid  has  a  good  effect  upon  the  men.  But, 
"on  the  other  hand,  when  they  receive  much  more  than  a  60 
per  cent  increase  in  wages,  many  of  them  will  work  irregularly 
and  tend  to  become  more  or  less  shiftless,  extravagant,  and 
dissipated.  Our  experiments  showed,  in  other  words,  that  it 
does  not  do  for  most  men  to  get  rich  too  fast."  But  what  of 
the  efficiency  of  the  corporation  which  receives  large  increases 
^  Frey,  Journal  of  Political  Economy,  May,  1913,  pp.  410-41 1. 


t 


i.  \ 


.■■■) 


254     HISTORY   AND   PROBLEMS   OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

in  its  rate  of  profits?  How  do  such  increases  afTect  the  alert- 
ness of  the  managers,  the  adoption  of  improved  methods, 
machines,  and  safety  appliances?  Can  the  workers  or  the 
consumers  afford  to  allow  an  employing  corporation  to  increase 
its  rate  of  profits?  If  so,  how  rapidly  and  how  much?  This  is 
an  unworked  field  of  efficiency  engineering.  And  our  efficiency 
engineers  are  not  enthusiastically  interested  in  investigations 
of  this  sort. 

The  non-social  lump-of-work  argument  is  closely  paralleled 
by  what  may  well  be  called  a  lump-of-capital  argument. 
Many  a  corporation  composed  of  individuals  who  are  not  in 
business  for  their  health  has  obtained  a  patent  upon  some 
new  appliance  which  would  cheapen  the  cost  of  production, 
but  necessitate  the  scrapping  of  much  valuable  equipment; 
and,  consequently,  with  the  aid  of  our  antiquated  patent 
laws  such  corporations  have  quietly  shelved  the  patent. 
The  attitude  of  the  capitalist  in  such  a  case  is  not  very  dis- 
similar to  that  of  the  workingman  who  opposes  the  intro- 
duction of  machinery  or  of  new  processes  which  threaten  his 
trade  or  his  lump-of-labor.  In  addition  to  the  prevention  of 
soldiering  on  the  part  of  workingmen  one  of  the  problems  of 
a  well-rounded  program  of  efficiency  engineering  would  be  to 
prevent  the  shelving  of  new  appliances  and  machines,  and  per- 
haps, to  call  for  a  modification  of  patent  laws. 

All  careful  and  disinterested  students  of  efficiency  en- 
gineering will  doubtless  admit  that  such  systems  are  ad- 
vocated by  the  employer,  that  the  employer  instituting  them 
expects  to  direct  their  operation,  and  that  the  systems  are 
adopted  primarily  for  the  benefit  of  the  employer.  The 
problems  connected  with  the  various  systems  are  viewed 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  employer  and  capitalist.  Benefit 
to  the  wage  earner  is  perhaps  considered  to  be  an  incidental 
advantage;  but  it  is  a  secondary  matter.  The  bright  and 
shining  goal  —  the  attractive  lure  —  is  lowered  costs  and  in- 


SCIENTIFIC   MANAGEMENT 


255 


creased  profits  rather  than  better  workmen  and  citizens,  or 
more  leisure  and  culture  and  enjoyment  for  the  toiling  mass 
and  their  families.  Is  it  reasonable  to  expect  that  the  wage 
earners,  organized  or  unorganized,  will  grow  enthusiastic  over 
a  lop-sided  system  of  scientific  management?  If,  as  Mr. 
Taylor  declares,  ''close,  intimate,  personal  cooperation"  is 
required  to  "energize"  a  plant,  efficiency  engineering  cannot 
reach  a  high  degree  of  success  while  the  workers  distrust  the 
motives  of  the  employer,  or  as  long  as  the  workers  in  the  plant 
are  convinced  that  the  employer  is  trying  to  get  more  work 
out  of  them  without  proportionally  increasing  their  pay. 

The   average   American   citizen   looks   askance   upon   an 
arbitrary  government  which  is  in  no  way  under  the  control 
of  the  mass  of  governed.     The  despot,  whether  enlightened 
and  benevolent  or  not,  would  be  regarded  with  suspicion  and 
would  not  be  tolerated.     Men  have  repeatedly  and  vigorously 
objected  to  arbitrary  action  on  the  part  of  government.    And 
for  centuries  the  western  world  has  been  moving  toward 
democracy.     The  Louis  XIV  view  of  government  is  obsolete, 
but  absolutism  in  industry  has  not  disappeared  from  the 
business  world.     Will  not,  therefore,  the  average  wage  earner, 
granted  political  privileges  but  shut  out  of  the  councils  of 
industry,  distrust  the  management  of  the  business  in  which 
he  earns  his  daily  bread?    He  will  certainly  see  in  the  plans 
of  the  employer  schemes  for  quietly  and  effectively  squeezing 
the  laboring  man.     The  workers  in  our  shops,  factories,  and 
mines  can  no  more  be  expected  to  look  with  favor  upon  arbi- 
trary changes  concerning  which  they  have  not  been  consulted, 
than  can  the  average  citizen  of  today  be  expected  smilingly  to 
abide  by  the  rulings  of  an  arbitrary  monarch. 

The  day  of  the  individual  entrepreneur  is  of  the  past,  not  of 
the  present  nor  of  the  future.  We  may  regret  his  going;  we 
may  vociferously  assert  that  he  was  superior  to  the  giant  cor- 
poration with  its  collection  of  mutually  independent  imits, 


! 


m 


¥'* 


I 


U) 


1 


256    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

and  we  may  argue  that  the  rivalry  between  entrepreneur  and 
entrepreneur  is  essential  to  business  progress  and  industrial 
efficiency;  but  the  corporation  is  here,  and  here  to  stay. 
Likewise,  the  day  of  individual  bargaining  with  the  isolated 
worker  is  passing.  Employers  may  strive  to  delay  its  going; 
but  in  vain  will  be  the  effort.  Professor  Commons  has  pointed 
out  that  unorganized  as  well  as  organized  workers  are  willing 
to  strike  for  the  right  to  bargain  collectively.  *'It  is  their 
desperate  recognition  that  the  day  of  individual  bargains  is 
gone  for  them."  It  is  safe  to  assert  that  efficiency  engineer- 
ing will  not  be  successfully  introduced  and  maintained  by 
union-smashing  corporations  demanding  individual  bargain- 
ing with  workers,  because  ''close,  intimate,  personal  coopera- 
tion between  the  management  and  the  men"  obviously  is 
impossible  under  such  conditions. 

Organized  labor  is  definitely  committed  to  the  method  of 
collective  bargaining;  and  both  organized  and  unorganized 
wage  earners  recognize  that,  except  in  a  few  highly  skilled 
trades  and  in  the  case  of  farm  laborers,  the  individual  bargain 
leads  toward  a  sweating  system.  The  employer  who  demands 
the  continued  use  of  the  individual  bargain,  whether  the  de- 
mand is  made  in  the  name  of  liberty  and  the  freedom  of  con- 
tract or  in  the  name  of  efficiency,  becomes  an  object  of  sus- 
picion. Individual  bargaining  is  productive  of  distrust  rather 
than  of  harmonious  cooperation.  And  consequently  efficiency 
engineering  can  only  hope  to  succeed,  in  the  long  run,  in 
energizing  workers  by  utilizing  the  collective  bargain.  And 
accepting  the  collective  bargain  means  the  partial  admission 
of  the  representatives  of  the  workers  into  the  councils  of  the 
employers.  It  is  a  tentative  step  away  from  autocracy  in 
business;  it  is  a  step  toward  putting  industry  upon  a  peace 
instead  of  a  war  footing.  Collective  bargaining  and  the  ad- 
mission of  the  workers  into  the  councils  of  the  management 
are  essentials  of  close  cooperation  between  the  management 


SCIENTIFIC   MANAGEMENT 


257 


ii 


and  the  employees.  But  the  leaders  in  the  movement  for 
efficiency  engineering  have  not,  as  yet,  given  this  fundamental 
fact  definite  recognition. 

In  fixing  upon  the  remuneration  to  be  given  to  the  wage 
earner  in  a  factory  where  scientific  management  is  utilized, 
two  points  must  be  determined:  the  day  wage  and  the  amount 
or  rate  of  the  premium  or  bonus.  In  either  case  it  is  possible 
to  utilize  the  collective  bargain.  The  premium  rate  as  well 
as  the  day  wage  can  undoubtedly  be  fixed  by  means  of  the 
collective  bargain.  Scientific  management  can  therefore 
utilize  the  collective  bargain;  it  is  not  restricted  to  the  indi- 
vidual bargain.  And  it  is  not  clear  that  the  wage  earner  need 
oppose.  Although  under  the  premium  plan,  all  workers  in  a 
given  class  would  not  receive  the  same  weekly  wage,  yet  the 
premium  rate  could  be  adjusted  by  agreement  between  the 
employer  and  the  officers  of  the  union.  And  the  rate  also 
could  be  so  adjusted  as  to  militate  against  over-driving.  The 
spokesman  of  organized  labor  informs  the  general  public  that 
the  union  demands  a  minimum  wage,  not  a  uniform  wage. 
But  a  reasonable  premium  plan  would  offer  a  minimum  wage 
with  an  opportunity  to  receive  a  bonus  for  efficiency.  This 
would  not  necessarily  militate  against  organized  labor  unless 
a  flat  rate  of  wages  within  a  given  class  of  workers  is  essential 
to  the  maintenance  of  union  solidarity. 

It  is  also  quite  essential  to  the  success  of  collective  bargain- 
ing that  a  determination  be  made  of  what  is  a  fair  day's  work. 
Although  scientific  management  offers  only  an  empirical 
solution  of  the  problem  of  a  fair  wage,  it  goes  further  in  regard 
to  the  important  matter  of  a  fair  day's  work.  Before  the 
days  of  scientific  management  there  was  little  or  no  exact 
knowledge  as  to  the  amount  of  work  which  a  craftsman  or 
laborer  ought  to  do  in  a  day.  Like  the  matter  of  a  fair  wage, 
a  fair  day's  work  was  settled  empirically,  hence,  the  employ- 
ment of  speeders  and  of  prodding  foremen.    A  period  of  de- 


l! 


If ' 


:     I* 
I 


258    fflSTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

pression  has  always  been  an  excellent  stimulant  for  the  average 
worker.  But  time  cards,  stop  watches,  motion  studies,  cost 
systems,  and  functional  foremen,  are  giving  us  accurate  defi- 
nitions of  a  fair  day's  work.  Wage  earners  and  employers 
may  not  agree  as  to  all  deductions  derived  from  the  data 
accumulated ;  but  accurate  information  is  desirable.  We  are 
rapidly  approaching  a  time  when,  in  our  large  industrial  estab- 
lishments at  least,  one  cause  of  contention  between  employer 
and  employee  will  disappear  or  at  least  be  greatly  minimized. 
A  fair  day's  work  may  now  be  determined  within  a  reasonable 
degree  of  accuracy  by  scientific  methods. 

One  of  the  greatest  weaknesses  of  scientific  management 
as  presented  by  its  best  exponents  is  the  utter  disregard  of  the 
workingman's  point  of  view.    It  seems  never  to  occur  to 
these  scientific  experts  in  the  employ  of  organized  capital 
that  the  worker  has  his  own  loves,  hates,  aspu-ations  and 
desire  for  freedom.     Smaller  pay,  declares  the  wage  worker, 
with  some  approach  to  a  voice  in  the  management  is  better 
than  larger  pay  and  industrial  autocracy  even  though  the 
autocracy  be  sugar-coated  and  called  scientific  or  "positive" 
management.     Wage  earners  have  been  somewhat  distrustful 
of  "welfare  work";  they  prefer  to  be  "free  rather  than  clean." 
A  similar  situation  obtains  in  regard  to  scientific  management 
as  the  utterances  of  labor  leaders  give  abundant  evidence. 
The  wage  worker  may  be  mistaken,  and  he  may  be  short- 
sighted and  superlatively  selfish;    but  he  is  in  earnest  and 
his  point  of  view  must  be  reckoned  with.     On  the  other  hand, 
is  it  not  conceivable  that  the  efficiency  expert  may  have 
neglected  some  factors  in  the  complex  problem  which  he  is 
studying?     Labor  organizations  exist  not  only  for  the  pur- 
pose of  obtaining  certain  specific  benefits  for  wage  earners, 
such  as  higher  wages  and  a  shorter  working  day,  but  they  are 
also  expressions  of  a  working-class  movement  toward  de- 


SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 


259 


mocracy  and  equality  of  opportunity.  Is  not  this  fact,  for 
example,  too  often  overlooked  by  the  ardent  advocates  of 
scientific  management  as  it  is  now  outlined? 

The  newer  type  of  efficiency  engineers,  possessing  a  broader 
vision  than  the  pioneer  advocate  of  scientific  management, 
points  out  that  the  goal  of  progress  in  the  industrial  sphere  is 
two-fold:  —  (i)  Increased  production  at  duninishing  expense, 
and  (2)  increasing  satisfaction  on  the  part  of  workers  in  their 
work.  Work,  as  well  as  leisure,  should  offer  opportunities 
for  self-expression  and  enjoyment  on  the  part  of  the  rank  and 
file  of  workers.  The  United  States  sorely  needs  more  training 
for  the  sort  of  efficiency  which  is  not  merely  predatory,  for 
the  fine  and  rare  variety  which  makes  for  industrial  harmony 
and  social  well-being.  We  should  have  more  careful  con- 
sideration of  desirable  modifications  in  the  old  and  accepted 
forms  of  control  in  industry.  In  order  to  raise  the  level  of 
efficiency  in  American  industry  and  to  insure  industrial  peace, 
it  is  urged  that  two  steps  be  taken,  (i)  Greater  emphasis 
should  be  placed  upon  the  development  of  individuality  in 
industry.  (2)  Industrial  autocracy  should  be  replaced  by 
some  form  of  industrial  democracy  or  constitutionalism.  It 
is  held  also  that  the  first  cannot  be  taken  without  the  second. 

Many  of  the  fundamental  concepts  of  American  democracy 
may  be  traced  back  to  the  pioneers  of  the  days  of  Jackson 
and  William  Henry  Harrison;  and  Americans  are  quite  in- 
clined to  believe  that  industry  until  recent  years  has  ever 
taken  the  form  of  the  small-scale  business  of  the  period  from 
1 800- 1 850.  We  are  disappointed  if  the  workers  of  today  do 
not  display  the  same  interest  in  their  work  as  did  the  pioneer 
farmer  or  the  small-shop  craftsman  when  working  for  himself. 
The  employer  and  the  man-on-the-comer  today  expect  the 
carefully  directed  worker,  deprived  of  all  opportunity  for 
initiative,   self-assertion  or  responsibility,   doing  a   certain 


1 


\ 


V 


I 


260    HISTORY   AND    PROBLEMS    OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

simple  task  over  and  over  again  to  exhibit  the  interest  and 
zeal  which  is  traditionally  described  to  the  pioneer  American. 
The  common  mode  of  procedure  has  been  vigorously  to  de- 
nounce the  worker  of  today,  especially  if  he  be  a  member  of  a 
labor  organization.  Few  have  stopped  to  inquire:  —  Why  are 
conditions  as  they  are?    What  steps  will  insure  betterment? 

But,  with  certain  exceptions  such  as  are  presented  by  the 
gildsmen  of  Western  Europe  and  by  the  American  pioneers 
who  virtually  employed  themselves,  history  discloses  that 
from  the  early  days  when  the  captives  in  battle  were  forced 
to  till  the  soil  for  the  benefit  of  their  conquerors,  through  the 
long  hopeless  ages  of  slavery  and  serfdom,  to  the  modem 
wage  system  with  its  definite  contractual  payment  of  money 
wages,  the  great  mass  of  the  world's  workers  have  been 
dragged  unwillingly  into  productive  activity.  Compulsion  — 
the  fear  of  the  lash,  of  discharge,  of  hunger,  and  of  the  lack 
of  comforts  —  has  been  the  potent,  but  negative,  force  which 
has  throughout  the  ages  hastened  the  steps  of  the  lagging 
worker.  This  negative  incentive  has  not  and  cannot  make 
for  efficiency,  for  joyful  and  creative  work.  Coercion  will 
not  produce  good  work;  it  is  first  necessary  "to  produce 
desire  in  the  heart  of  the  workman  to  do  good  work."  "  Man's 
place  in  industry  is  not  to  be  mastered  but  to  provide  free  and 
willing  service." 

Even  today  according  to  critics  of  the  present  industrial 
situation,  "the  whole  industrial  arrangement  is  carried  on 
without  the  force  of  productive  intention;  it  is  carried  for- 
ward against  a  disinclination  to  produce";  and  a  disinclina- 
tion to  produce  will  inevitably  breed  unreHability  and  in- 
efficiency. Consequently,  the  present  industrial  arrangement 
in  common  with  the  earlier  forms  known  as  slavery  and  serf- 
dom, must  be  inefficient  from  the  standpoint  of  output,  and 
also  deadening  and  debilitating  in  its  effect  upon  the  indi- 


te 


SCIENTIFIC   MANAGEMENT 


261 


«  t.M 


vidual  workers.  In  this  connection  it  may  also  be  pointed 
out  that  the  growth  of  the  corporate  form  of  business  and 
the  tendency  to  interpose  "layers  of  corporate  securities" 
between  the  owners  and  the  property  actually  owned,  tends 
to  destroy  the  "pride  of  ownership"  and  the  "joy  of  work- 
manship" which  the  owner  so  often  exhibited  in  the  days 
when  smaller-scale  and  more  simple  industrial  enterprises 
were  the  rule.  The  typical  owner  of  corporate  securities  is 
an  investor  or  a  speculator  rather  than  a  person  interested  in 
the  technical  processes  of  production.  The  tendency  toward 
routine,  toward  scientific  management,  and  toward  cen- 
tralized and  depersonalized  supervision  in  modern  large- 
scale  industry  is  making  "individuality  in  industry"  a  rare 
phenomenon. 

The  negative  incentives  furnished  by  compulsion  are  not 
only  inefficient  now  as  was  also  true  in  the  days  of  slavery 
and  of  serfdom,  but,  in  an  era  of  democracy  and  of  compulsory 
education  for  all  classes,  unless  reenforced  and  modified  by 
others  of  a  more  inspiring  and  stimulating  type,  the  negative 
incentives  provide  social  dynamite  which  will  sooner  or  later 
put  civihzation  in   the  imminent  danger  of  a  serious  social 

upheaval. 

The  complex  of  instincts,  habits,  passions,  prejudices,  likes 
and  aversions  called  man  is  the  slowly  and  painfully  evolved 
product  of  unnumbered  generations.  Man  is  the  resultant 
of  generations  in  which  there  was  little  of  routine,  regularity 
or  reasoning.  Man  is  endowed  with  almost  ineradicable 
instincts  and  impulses  which  are  the  fruits  of  environmental 
conditions  in  the  ages  past.  Modern  industry  on  the  con- 
trary is  a  recent  and  artificial  contrivance;  it  is  the  gift  of 
the  last  two  or  three  generations.  The  man  who  has  become 
a  cog  in  the  gigantic  articulated  modern  tread-mill  is  sub- 
jected to  experiences  and  influences  which  cut  across,  thwart 


262     HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 


If" 


ir 


h 


i! 


and  inhibit  many  of  the  impulses  and  keen  desires  which 
he  has  inherited  from  the  long  ago. 

The  problem  of  the  social  sciences  —  if  they  have  any 
adequate  grounds  for  demanding  the  appellation  of  sciences  — • 
is  to  hasten  the  adjustment  of  associated  men  to  the  condi- 
tions  of  modern  life  and  to  reduce  the  friction  accompanying 
such  adjustment.     To  accomplish  this  purpose  evidently  both 
the  environmental  conditions  and  the  psychology  of  human 
beings  must  be  carefully  investigated.     There  is  reason  for 
beheving   that   the   fundamental  impulses   and   instincts   of 
mankind  have  changed  little  since  the  primitive  man  ap- 
peared.    According  to  McDougal    "men  are  moved  by  a 
variety  of  impulses  whose  nature  has  been  determined  through 
long  ages  of  evolutionary  process  without  reference  to  the 
hfe  of  man  in  civilized  society."     Such  being  the  case,  our 
problem  becomes  one  of  finding  out  what  these  fundamental 
impulses,  instincts  and  emotions  are,  and  to  find  expression 
for  them  in  ways  which  make  for  uplift  and  racial  betterment. 
Repression  inevitably  spells  danger.     It  is  quite  clear  that  the 
instincts,  which  long   racial  experience  have   evaluated   as 
essential  to  survival  cannot  be  easily  swept  aside  by  a  few 
generations  of  regular  industry,  relative  peace  and  plenty. 
We  must  reckon  with  them.     To  continue  to  disregard  them 
is  to  close  the  door  upon  the  possibility  of  making  economics 
or  sociology  scientific.     Assuming  that  human  nature  is  not 
plastic  or  easy  to  modify,  the  most  practical  solution  of  the 
problem  of  industrial  efficiency  may  be  judged  to  lie  in  a 
definite  and  planned  attempt  to  modify  industrial  conditions 
so  as  to  offer  as  far  as  possible  an  outlet  for  the  underlying 
impulses  of  mankind. . 

Heretofore,  economists  and  other  social  scientists  have  been 
prone  to  consider  men  —  workingmen  at  least  — to  be  single- 
track  individuals,  —  persons  of  few  and_^fairly  simple  guiding 


SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 


263 


instincts  and  impulses.  We  have  built  up  a  sort  of  straw 
man  and  then  proceeded  with  calmness  to  argue  on  the 
basis  of  this  artificial,  air-castle-Uke  development  of  our  own 
making.  Students  of  American  industrial  problems  have 
rarely  stopped  to  study  the  actual  *  flesh  and  blood  man  and 
his  motives.  We  have  paid  little  attention  to  the  problem 
of  adapting  industry  and  environment  to  men.  We  have 
naively  accepted  the  crude  idea  that  the  great  mass  of  people 
must  fit  into  the  new  industrial  environment  even  though  it 
be  quite  dissimilar  to  that  of  preceding  ages,  —  the  ages  in 
which  the  type  of  man  was  molded  and  cast.  It  was  a  maxim 
of  Catherine  II  of  Russia  that  a  ruler  operates  on  human 
skin  which  is  exceptionally  ticklish.  The  same  proposition 
holds  in  regard  to  direction  and  control  in  the  industrial  field. 
It  is  a  ticklish  proposition  in  which  the  wants,  prejudices,  pre- 
conceived notions,  ambitions,  and  instincts  of  human  beings 
cannot  be  disregarded  with  impunity. 

For  example,  are  industrial  inefficiency  and  restriction  of 
output  due  to  the  lack  of  potent  incentives  which  touch  the 
rank  and  file  of  industrial  workers?  Upon  the  correct  answer 
to  this  question  depends  the  possibility  of  formulating  worth- 
while plans  for  industrial  improvement.  The  late  Professor 
Parker  declared  that  laziness,  in  so  far  as  it  exists,  is  "an 
artificial  habit,  inculcated  by  civilization."  The  slacker  in 
industry  is  produced  by  "  the  job  and  the  industrial  environ- 
ment." Students  of  child  life  are  practically  agreed  that 
the  normal  healthy  child  is  neither  lazy  nor  bad.  The  ar- 
tificial environment  which  adults  ignorantly  or  selfishly  pro- 
vide, often  makes  him  appear  to  be  so.  The  normal  adult 
is  only  the  youth  overlaid  with  custom,  precepts,  inhibitions 
and  experiences. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  recent  writer  who  is  a  student  of 
psychology  quite  emphatically  asserts  that  "peoples  and  in- 


k\ 


I 


ii 


•:i 


I* 


264    HISTORY   AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

dividuals  are  by  nature  indolent."  And,  certainly  unless 
prodded  by  opposition,  rivalry,  changed  environmental  con- 
ditions, unsatisfied  wants  or  some  other  potent  incentives, 
human  beings  tend  to  settle  down  comfortably  into  ruts, 
amiably  to  let  well  enough  alone,  and  to  be  satisfied  with 
much  less  than  their  best  or  near-best.  The  normal  individual 
may  not  be  lazy  in  the  sense  of  desiring  merely  to  loaf;  but 
he  does  not  love  the  routine  of  present-day  industry  as  a  regu- 
lar day-after-day,  year  in  and  year  out  process  from  which 
the  only  tangible  result  from  his  point  of  view  is  a  meager 
living  for  himself  and  family  accompanied  by  extreme 
weariness  of  the  flesh.  Normal  men  may  indeed  possess  an 
imperious  instinct  of  workmanship  or  contrivance;  but  the 
up-to-date  factory  practicing  minute  subdivision  of  labor  is 
equipped  with  excellent  means  of  inhibiting  this  instinct. 
Undoubtedly,  a  worker  may  become  so  inured  to  routine  that 
he  will  feel  uncomfortable  when  out  of  the  traces  of  his  daily 
occupation;  but  such  is  an  acquired  feeling.  It  does  not 
make  for  the  zest  and  interest  which  lead  men  to  push  joy- 
ously ahead  to  newer  planes  of  achievement. 

The  two  points  of  view  discussed  above  are  not  necessarily 
contradictory.  Normal  human  beings  are  so  constituted  as  to 
enjoy  activity  which  makes  for  worth-while  results.  What  is 
considered  to  be  worth-while  obviously  changes  with  time, 
place  and  kind  of  civilization.  But,  the  normal  active,  non- 
lazy  individual  placed  in  an  environment  chiefly  characterized 
by  monotony  and  the  lack  of  incentives  for  improvement  or 
change,  will  after  a  time  accept  the  present  achievements  as 
sufficient  and  follow  the  daily  routine  without  enthusiasm. 
Certain  vigorous  and  recalcitrant  persons  will  rebel  and  try  to 
escape  from  the  hum-drum  and  correctness  of  the  place  and 
period;   these  are  the  heretics,  the  radicals,  the  I.W.W.'s. 

One  of  our  able  and  successful  business  managers  out  of 


SCIENTIFIC   MANAGEMENT 


265 


his  experience  has  put  the  matter  very  clearly.  ''The  desire 
for  self-expression  is  one  of  the  most  fundamental  instincts 
in  human  nature,  and  unless  it  is  satisfied  it  is  bound  to 
manifest  itself  in  all  sorts  of  abnormal  ways  which  today  are 
working  such  havoc  in  society."  The  late  John  E.  Williams 
testified  before  the  Commission  on  Industrial  Relations  that 
"the  I.W.W.'s  would  not  be  very  different  from  the  other 
people  if  they  had  the  proper  organ  of  expression.  It  is  just 
that  sense  of  futility  of  their  lot,  of  their  means  of  action, 
that  makes  people  resort  to  these  measures  of  force."  The 
last  sentence  is  worthy  of  more  than  passing  notice;  it  pre- 
sents a  vital  fact  from  a  man  of  much  practical  experience. 
Unfortunately  industry  is  offering  little  opportunity  for  self- 
expression  to  the  average  worker;  it  does  not  stimulate  the 
interest  of  the  worker  in  his  work.  In  the  use  of  potent  in- 
centives, modern  large-scale  routine  industry  has  progressed 
little  beyond  slavery  and  serfdom. 

It  is  too  much  to  expect  men  to  act  conservatively  and 
according  to  the  customary  procedure  when  they  have  little 
or  no  opportunity  for  the  normal  expression  of  human  wants 
and  desires.  If  they  are  unable  to  satisfy  the  instinct  for 
food  or  for  self-assertion,  they  will  inevitably  become  biassed, 
gnarled,  knotted  and  perverse  individuals.  To  make  them 
more  like  the  well-to-do  conservative,  the  unblessed  must  be 
made  more  well-to-do.  The  much-abused  and  much-feared 
I.W.W.  is  composed  largely  of  men  whose  instincts  for  family 
life,  for  acquisition  of  wealth,  for  contrivance  or  workmanship, 
and  for  self-assertion  have  been  inhibited.  Better  treatment, 
better  wages,  opportunity  in  youth  to  acquire  a  little  property 
are  solvents  for  extreme  radicalism. 

Psychologists  point  out  that  changed  environments  have 
frequently  changed  individuals  in  an  extraordinary  manner,  — 
from  ne'er-do-wells  to  leaders,  from  criminality  to  useful  citi- 


i 


It' 


266    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

zenship,  from  sluggishness  to  a  condition  of  mental  alertness. 
A  change  in  industrial  methods,  in  the  workshop  conditions, 
in  the  incentives  to  activity,  may  likewise  work  marvelous 
changes  in  the  activities  and  the  attitude  of  workers.  "Prim- 
itive man,  like  his  animal  ancestors,  expended  tremendous 
strength  and,  having  won  his  fight,  relapsed  into  inaction, 
revelling  in  the  fruits  of  victory."  ^  The  man  in  the  fac- 
tory, the  mine  or  the  store  is  capable  of  extraordinary 
activity  on  occasion,  —  note  his  activity  when  witnessing 
a  close  base-ball  game,  when  on  a  strike  or  in  case  of  an 
emergency  such  as  a  fire.  The  vocation  of  the  mass  of 
wage  workers  today  offers  very  little  to  fire  the  workers  or 
to  arouse  their  latent  energy  or  talents;  there  are  few  or 
no  episodes  which  stir  the  blood  and  call  for  temporary  ex- 
cessive or  invigorating  expenditure  of  effort.  As  a  conse- 
quence the  average  worker  soon  exhibits  the  all  too  familiar 
"tendency  to  minimum  effort."  In  modern  industry,  except 
for  a  small  group,  "improvement  stimulus"  is  practically 
lacking.  The  great  mass  of  unstimulated  workers  become 
uninterested  and  inefficient  workers;  they  do  not  feel  those 
incentives  which  stir  human  beings  mto  activity.  Yet, 
business  competition  can  be  made  to  offer  opportunities  for 
potent  stimuli.  One  force,  group  or  gang  may  become  inter- 
ested in  its  performance  as  compared  with  that  of  another  or 
with  its  preceding  performance.  But,  unless  the  workers 
have  some  very  definite  voice  in  determining  the  conditions  of 
rivalry,  in  sharing  in  its  benefits,  it  is  presently  looked  upon  as 
a  scheme  on  the  part  of  the  employer  to  increase  profits  — 
and  too  often  with  excellent  reasons  for  such  conclusion. 

The  situation    in  American   industry  —  a  skilled  staff  of 
mental  workers  and  a  mass  of  routine  workers  without  any 
voice  in  the  management  of  the  industry  in  which  they  work 
»  Swift,  Psychology  and  the  Day's  Work,  pp.  28-29. 


SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 


267 


—  runs  directly  counter  to  the  ideals  of  American  political 
democracy  and  to  the  fundamental  principles  upon  which 
the  American  public  school  rests.  The  schools  of  Germany 
"were  organized  upon  the  servility  of  the  people";  but  those 
of  the  United  States  on  the  ideal  of  individual  initiative  and 
equality  of  opportunity.  Unfortunately,  in  this  country  in- 
dustry and,  too  frequently,  the  school  as  well  are  destroying 
the  plasticity,  the  initiative  and  the  self-reliance  of  the 
youth;  and  the  much-lauded  systems  of  scientific  manage- 
ment   seem    to    constitute    a    further    step    in    the    same 

direction. 

The  effect  of  routine  in  industry  is  to  divide  the  army  of 
unskilled  and  semi-skilled  workers  in  this  country  into  two 
classes:  (i)  those  who  are  becoming  more  and  more  lethargic, 
and  (2)  those  who  rebel  against  the  autocracy  of  business 
and  the  monotony  of  the  work,  thus  augmenting  the  ranks 
of  the  migratory  workers.  The  trend  in  industry  is  to  reduce 
the  relative  demand  for  skilled  men  and  to  add  to  the  relative 
number  of  unskilled  workers.  The  future  of  the  workers  in 
the  occupations  requiring  little  skill  is,  consequently,  be- 
coming of  increasing  significance.  The  great  mass  of  laborers 
have  little  opportunity  for  self-expression,  self-assertion  and 
self-direction.  They  are  in  too  many  workplaces  servile, 
driven,  cowed.  These  conditions  do  not  make  for  efficient 
workmanship  or  for  good  citizenship.  Docile  and  mechanized 
workers  cannot  be  as  efficient,  their  per  capita  output  will 
be  less  than  that  of  workers  who  take  an  interest  in  their 
work,  who  have  opportunity  to  do  creative  work,  and  who 
have  some,  even  though  it  be  small,  voice  in  the  management 
of  the  business.  The  laborer  may  be  made  to  work;  but  the 
unwilling  worker  is  below  the  par  of  efficiency.  Every  teacher 
knows  that  the  uninterested  pupil  does  not  measure  up  to 
his  possibilities;   it  is  not  as  well  understood  that  the  unin- 


ii 


268    HISTORY   AND   PROBLEMS   OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

terested  wage  worker  is  the  inefficient  and  careless  worker. 
Moreover,  such  a  situation  may  easily  develop  the  combustible 
stuff  out  of  which  is  formed  the  personnel  of  the  I.W.W. 
or  of  the  Bolsheviki.  Out  of  the  regimentation  of  docile 
individuals  into  well-disciplined  groups  of  zestless  individuals 
grows  the  danger  of  sudden  and  violent  self-assertion. 

The  thwarting  of  the  instinctive  desires  among  working 
people  tends  as  in  the  case  of  school  children,  to  produce 
unrest,  abnormality,  delinquency  and,  in  some  cases,  vio- 
lence. Workers,  thwarted  by  industrial  conditions,  become 
abnormal  men  and  women.  Keen  observers  have  noted  the 
growth  of  "sullen  hostility"  toward  the  employing  class  on 
the  part  of  the  migratory  workers.  The  great  group  of  migra- 
tory or  nomadic  workers  have  lost  the  incentives  and  the 
point  of  view  which  places  emphasis  upon  workmanlike 
qualities.  They  are  drifting  and  rootless  workers  who  are 
hostile  to  employers,  to  organized  society  and  to  the  ideals 
which  the  middle  class  and  the  more  conservative  type  of 
workmen  blessed  with  home  ties  and  a  stake  in  life,  holds 
dear.  The  problem  is  not  one  of  statics  or  of  going  back  to 
a  pre- War  footing;  it  is  rather  one  of  movement  toward 
some  type  of  industrial  democracy  or  toward  syndicalism 
and  I.W.W.-ism.  The  urgent  problem  is  to  find  a  prac- 
tical middle  ground  in  industry  between  autocracy  or 
Prussianism  and  syndicalism  or  Bolshevism. 

Programs  for  reconstruction  or  readjustment  should  be 
formulated  with  this  situation  in  mind.  The  reactionaries 
of  today  are  playing  into  the  hands  of  the  syndicalists  and 
ultra-radicals.  Punishment  alone  is  insufficient  in  dealing 
with  criminals;  and  it  will  likewise  prove  insufficient  in 
dealing  with  the  radical  members  of  the  I.  W.  W.  The 
United  States  should  give  them  an  opportunity  to  earn  an 
honest  livehhood,  to  gain  a  semblance  to  equality  of  economic 


SCIENTIFIC   MANAGEMENT 


269 


opportunity,  and  to  satisfy  the  fundamental  and  deep-seated 
instincts  of  human  nature  such  as  self-assertion,  acquisitive- 
ness and  contrivance.  If  we  are  not  ready  to  take  this  step 
toward  making  this  country  safe  for  democracy,  let  us 
again    read    the    records    of    historic    political    and    social 

upheavals. 

The  ideals  of  the  American  educational  system  —  though 
very  imperfectly  carried  out  in  actual  practice  —  call  for  the 
development  of  thinking  and  self-reliant  individuals.  For  the 
rank  and  file  industry  has  been  putting  a  premium  upon 
docility  and  the  absence  of  thinking  or  contriving.  Why  ask 
our  public  schools  to  train  the  great  mass  of  workers,  if  the 
latter  are  to  become  semi-automatic  human  machines?  In 
fact,  such  training  aids  in  increasing  unrest  and  discontent. 
The  remedy,  however,  is  not  retrogression  in  regard  to  edu- 
cation. The  remedy  for  many  of  the  social  and  industrial 
ills  of  today  is  to  be  found  in  greater  individualization  in 
the  work-shop,  in  greater  stimulation  of  the  spirit  of  initi- 
ative and  self-reliance,  and  in  a  growing  interest  in  the 
quality  and  quantity  of  output,  among  the  great  drab  mass 
of  wage  workers.    How  can  this  remedy  be  applied? 

The  problem  is:  Can  routine,  subdivided  industry  be 
made  interesting?  Can  the  "creative  impulse"  be  given 
play?  Can  the  "adventure  of  business"  be  opened  up  to 
the  wage  workers?  Or,  must  plans  for  betterment  be  directed 
solely  or,  at  least  in  a  large  measure,  toward  securing  the 
short  working  day  and  such  utilization  of  leisure  time  as  will 
make  for  physical,  mental  and  moral  uplift?  The  second 
alternative  is  one  worthy  of  promotion;  but  our  present 
concern  is  with  the  former.  In  fact,  if  more  potent  incen- 
tives were  disclosed  in  industry,  if  workers  became  more 
interested  in  their  work,  if  one's  work  expressed  in  some 
degree  his  individuality,  and  if  the  workers  were  given  a 


^•1: 


,» 


»'. 


1^ 

I  ft 


I 


^1 


270    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

share  in   the  responsibility  of  management,  the  recreation 
problem  would  be  less  difficult  of  solution. 

The  much-heralded  and  much-lauded  scientific  manage- 
ment has  accompUshed  important  results;  but  it  has  fallen 
short  of  maximum  possibilities.  As  has  been  pointed  out, 
efficiency  engineers  almost  without  exception  have  failed 
adequately  to  take  into  account  the  human  side  of  the  in- 
dustrial equation.  In  their  neatly  prepared  programs,  the 
employees  are  as  pawns  to  be  moved  at  will  on  the  industrial 
chessboard.  The  workers  are  practically  shorn  of  all  re- 
sponsibility. But  the  road  to  efficiency  in  industry  and  to 
interest  in  work  and  output  does  not  lead  toward  bureau- 
cratic control.  The  most  vital  weakness  in  scientific  manage- 
ment of  the  typical  sort  is  that  it  does  not  lead  the  workers 
to  take  an  interest  in  increasing  the  output  of  the  shop.  It 
is  not  argued  that  all  work  can  be  transformed  into  pleasur- 
able activity.  Quite  likely  work  will  remain  work,  and  play 
continue  to  be  play.  But  it  is  asserted  that  in  some  measure 
the  drudgery  which  so  often  accompanies  work  in  modem 
industry  may  be  reduced,  and  that  it  is  possible  to  make 
certain  kinds  of  routine  work  interesting.  Further,  it  is 
contended  that  this  may  be  accomplished  in  part  by  giving 
the  worker  some  voice  in  the  planning  and  administration 
of  industry,  by  providing  a  vent  for  his  instinct  of  contrivance, 
and  by  making  him  feel  that  his  work  is  worth-while. 

A  recent  and  promising  step  has  been  taken  by  certain 
managers  of  industrial  plants.  It  is  an  attempt  to  introduce 
individuaUty  into  industry,  to  treat  the  worker  as  a  self- 
respecting  man  capable  of  taking  some  responsibility  upon 
his  own  shoulders.  "It  is  our  plan,"  writes  Mr.  R.  B.  Wolf, 
"to  increase  his  [the  workers']  responsibility,  and  we  feel 
that  it  is  our  duty  to  teach  him  to  exercise  his  reasoning  power 
and  intelligence  to  its  fullest  extent."    A  definite  attempt  is 


SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 


271 


made  to  enlist  the  creative  spark  which  is  the  inheritance  of 
all  men,  in  increasing  productivity.  The  desire  to  go  good 
work  which  all  men  possess  is  appealed  to.  The  personal 
touch  between  management  and  men  is  introduced.  Bonus 
schemes  and  premium  plans  are  Httle  used  as  incentives. 
This  plan  is  a  long  step  in  the  right  direction.  The  greatest 
weakness  in  it  as  an  adequate  solution  of  the  labor  problem 
is  disclosed  by  pointing  out  that  no  provision  is  apparently 
made  for  control  by  the  workers.  It  is  not  necessarily  a 
step  toward  industrial  democracy;  but  it  does  give  some 
recognition  to  the  psychology  of  the  workers.  The  develop- 
ment of  trade  agreement  and  shop  committee  systems  also 
gives  promise  of  new  and  better  industrial  conditions  and 
relations.^ 

Many  forward-looking  business  concerns,  facing  difficult  re- 
construction problems  and  aware  of  the  existence  of  unusual 
industrial  unrest,  are  experimenting  with  an  extraordinary 
number  of  industrial  innovations;  and  hard-headed  in- 
dividuals are  ready  to  sneer  and  to  point  out  the  impossi- 
bility of  success.  It  should  not  be  forgotten,  however,  that 
every  worth-while  innovation  meets  ridicule  and  opposition. 
One  writer  on  business  affairs  puts  the  matter  in  a  nutshell 
when  he  writes:  Many  managers  "don't  want  to  learn  new 
ways."  They  want  to  get  results  in  their  way.  The  ways 
of  business  managers  are  too  frequently  traditional  and 
autocratic.  The  foundation  principles  come  down  from  the 
time  of  slavery.  Little  or  no  attention  is  paid  to  the  wishes 
or  ideas  of  the  workers.  It  is  assumed  by  the  old-fashioned 
employer  that  the  average  worker  is  a  blockhead  and  one  to 
be  driven.  The  former  puts  fear  into  the  breasts  of  the 
workers.  The  possibility  of  harmonious  conferences  in 
regard  to  grievances  and  production  methods  is  scouted. 

*  See  Chapter  X. 


Ms 


« , 


m 


:^'" 


ii» 


I' 


272    HISTORY   AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORG.VNIZED   LABOR 

The  traditions  of  the  American  business  world  regarding  the 
rights  of  employers  and  employees  and  of  the  relations  be- 
tween managers  and  men  are  about  to  suffer  from  disturbing 
influences.  A  new  era  is  dawning;  but  just  what  it  will  be 
depends  greatly  upon  the  willingness  and  the  ability  of  leaders 
in  the  business  world  to  adjust  their  poUcies  and  to  study 
the  situation  from  other  points  of  view  than  that  of  the  man 
''who  proposes  to  run  his  own  business  to  suit  himself." 
"The  job  must  be  made  worth-while"  for  the  worker,  —  if 
eihciency  is  to  follow.  The  old  idea  that  the  essence  of  the 
labor  problem  consisted  in  keeping  laborers  contented  on 
wages  which  were  insufficient  to  live  upon,  is  being  replaced 
by  a  more  hopeful,  humane  and  scientific  point  of  view. 

The  leader  of  the  new  type  in  industry  is  studying  men. 
He  pays  good  wages,  maintains  a  model  plant,  uses  some  form 
of  the  shop-committee  system,  and  makes  it  possible  for  his 
employees  to  hold  up  their  heads  and  be  men.  The  new 
industrial  leader  recognizes  that  human  energy  can  only 
be  released  and  properly  guided  by  utilizing  the  motives 
which  underlie  and  determine  human  conduct.  It  may  again 
develop  into  a  case  of  democracy  and  many  mistakes  versus 
autocracy  and  smooth  action.  But  in  view  of  the  peculiar 
make-up  of  the  human  being,  autocracy  and  smooth  action 
may  spell  inefficiency  through  subtle  forms  of  sabotage  and 
the  lack  of  zest  or  interest  in  the  process  or  in  the  amount 

of  output. 

Up-to-date,  labor  organizations  in  the  United  States  have 
been  primarily  fighting  machines;  their  functions  have  been 
mainly  protective.  The  hostile  attitude  of  employers  and 
employers'  associations  have  inevitably  produced  this  re- 
action. Unions  cannot  be  expected  to  take  any  active  in- 
terest in  production  problems  until  their  members  are  assured 
that  the  necessity  of  continuing  as  a  fighting  organization  is 


SCIENTIFIC    MANAGEMENT 


273 


a  thing  of  the  past.  With  increasing  participation  in  govern- 
mental affairs  on  the  part  of  labor,  guarantees  of  a  living 
family  wage,  greater  security  of  employment,  a  short  working 
day,  and  the  cooperation  of  committees  of  workers  with  the 
representatives  of  capital  in  business  management,  a  marked 
and  significant  change  may  be  expected  in  the  structure, 
ideals  and  functions  of  labor  organizations,  and  in  the  atti- 
tude of  their  members  toward  restriction  of  output  and 
kindred  difficulties  which  now  bulk  large  on  the  industrial 
horizon.  The  instinct  of  workmanship  or  contrivance,  the 
creative  impulse  or  spark  "cannot  actively  assert  itself  until 
the  instincts  more  directly  concerned  with  immediate  sur- 
vival are  given  satisfaction."  ^  Efficiency  in  industry  or  in 
other  forms  of  human  endeavor  depends  in  a  large  measure 
upon  releasing  the  creative  impulse,  upon  the  joint  responsi- 
bility of  labor  and  capital.  Definite  recognition  of  labor 
organizations  and  the  participation  of  representatives  of  the 
workers  in  the  councils  of  industry  give  promise  of  being 
fundamental  factors  in  the  next  forward  step  in  industry. 
The  War  has  given  the  idea  of  collective  bargaining  a  firm 
foothold.  It  was  very  definitely  promoted  by  the  National 
War  Labor  Board.  The  war  experience  of  the  nation  shows 
clearly  that  it  should  become  a  permanent  factor  in  our 
industrial  organization. 

It  is  clear  that  many  union  rules  and  regulations  do  not 
permit  of  maximum  productivity.  In  England,  the  exigen- 
cies of  the  Great  War  made  it  necessary  to  sweep  aside  the 
great  mass  of  union  restrictions.  Regulations  primarily  in- 
tended to  defend  unionism  have  limited  output  and  impaired 
efficiency.  In  a  large  measure,  the  problem  under  consider- 
ation is  one  of  transforming  unionism  from  being  a  negative 
or  restrictive  force  or  factor  to  that  of  being  a  positive  or 

*  Tead,  Instincts  in  Industry,  p.  150. 


J 

Ml 


ff. 


I      * 

h 


If 


i 


274    HISTORY   AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

directive  force  or  factor  in  industry.  As  this  salutary  trans- 
formation is  in  the  process  of  consummation,  restrictive  rules 
will  be  gradually  sloughed  off.  But  in  view  of  past  experience, 
it  must  be  anticipated  that  a  large  number  of  workingmen 
will  continue  to  adhere  to  the  idea  that  labor  organizations 
are  essential  to  their  welfare.  It  is  asking  too  much  to  expect 
labor  to  rest  its  cause  on  the  recently  awakened  social  con- 
science. If  the  nation  is  on  the  threshold  of  a  new  era  in 
industrial  relations,  organized  labor  must  be  recognized  and 
bargained  with,  or  at  least  not  discriminated  against;  and 
employees  through  representatives  of  their  own  choice  must 
be  given  a  voice  in  determining  working  conditions  and 
methods.  Under  such  conditions  unions  may  be  expected 
to  divert  much  of  their  energy  from  squabbling  over  the 
distribution  of  the  output  of  industry  and  direct  it  toward 
the  new  and  more  alluring  goal  of  raising  the  level  of  pro- 
ductive efficiency  and  of  giving  the  *'joy  of  workmanship" 
a  conspicuous  place  in  modern  industry. 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

Taylor,  The  Principles  of  Scientific  Management 

Gantt,  Work,  Wages  and  Profits. 

Emerson,  Twelve  Principles  of  Efficiency. 

Going,  Principles  of  Industrial  Engineering. 

Hoxie,  Scientific  Management. 

Hoxie,  Trade  Unionism  in  the  United  States.     Chs.  12  and  13. 

Reporl  of  the  Commission  on  Industrial  Relations  (1916),  pp.  127-143. 

Thompson,  "Scientific  Management  in  Practice,"  Quarterly  Journal 
of  Economics,  February,  191 5,  PP-  262-307. 

Carlton,  "Scientific  Management  and  Organized  Labor,"  Interna- 
tional Molders'  Journal,  November,  1916. 

Marot,  American  Labor  Unions.    Ch.  18. 

Gantt,  Organizing  for  Work, 

Tead,  Instincts  in  Industry. 


SCIENTIFIC    MANAGEMENT 


275 


Marot,  Creative  Impulses  in  Industry. 

Commons,  Industrial  Goodwill. 

Parker,  "Motives  in  Economic  Life,"  American  Economic  Review, 
March,  1918.    Supplement. 

Wolf,  "Making  Men  Like  their  Jobs,"  System,  January  and  February, 
1919. 

Wolf  and  others,  "Individuality  in  Industry,"  Bulletin  of  Bureau  of 
Labor  Statistics.     No.  227:  193  ff. 

Editorial  and  article  by  Stoddard,  The  Independent,  March  8,  1919. 

Wolfe,  "Some  Psychological  Aspects  of  Industrial  Reconstruction,"  Pub- 
lication of  American  Sociological  Society.     Vol.  14. 

Carlton,  "The  Spread  of  Bolshevism,"  The  Bay  View  Magazine,  May, 
1920. 


n 


■  'fJ; 


?V    '' 


i'' 


CHAPTER  X 

METHODS    OF   PROMOTING    INDUSTRIAL   PEACE 

According  to  the  laissez  faire  philosophy,  wages,  hours,  and 
all  other  particulars  of  the  labor  contract  were  fixed  as  the 
result  of  a  bargain  between  the  employer  and  employee. 
Competition  automatically  determined  in  a  large  measure 
the  terms  of  the  bargain.    The  general  public  including  the 
consumers  of  the  products  made  by  the  wage  earners,  were 
little  concerned  as  to  the  settlement  of  any  differences  which 
might  arise  between  employer  and  his  employee.    Certain 
rules  of  the  competitive  game  were  promulgated  by  govern- 
mental authority.     Violence  and  the  destruction  of  property 
were  unlawful,  contracts  must  be  fulfilled,  and  any  interfer- 
ence with  the  freedom  of  competition  was  illegal  under  the 
common  law.     Beyond  these  regulations  the  laissez  faire  phi- 
losophy was  unwilling  to  allow  the  government  to  go.    As 
long  as  industries  were  small,  labor  unorganized  or  organized 
only  into  local  groups,  and  competition  was  a  live  and  efficient 
force,  the  ''third  party"  or  the  general  pubHc  could  accept 
without  great  reluctance  the  principles  of  the  let-alone  phi- 
losophy.    If  a  single  individual  did  not  desire  to  accept  the 
conditions  imposed  by  his  employer,  he  stopped  work  and  his 
place  was  either  filled  unmediately  by  another  or  left  tem- 
porarily vacant.    The  dissatisfied  man  sought  another  posi- 
tion in  a  competing  establishment.    If  a  dozen  workmen  in 
one  estabUshment  quarreled  with  their  employer  as  to  wages, 
and  if  a  strike  or  lockout  occurred,  only  a  minute  reduction 
of  the  total  supply  of  that  particular  product  would  follow. 
The  market  and  prices  would  not  be  noticeably  affected.    A 

276 


METHODS    OF    PROMOTING    INDUSTRIAL    PEACE     277 

labor  difliiculty  was  only  of  local  import,  and  only  disturbed 
a  few  people.  Bargains  between  individual  employer  and 
their  employees  did  not  assume  such  proportions  as  to  call 
for  outside  aid  or  interference  of  any  sort,  and  the  issue  was 
not  of  sufficient  importance  to  attract  the  attention  of  the 
general  public  or  of  the  governmental  authorities.  Such  was 
the  condition  which  prevailed  in  the  industrial  world  before 
the  advent  of  organized  labor  and  of  large-scale  industry;  and 
such  are  the  conditions  which  still  prevail  where  labor  is  not 
well  organized  and  industry  is  still  small-scale  as  in  the  small 
retail  store. 

But  time  passes  and  industries  bulk  larger  and  larger.     The 
railway,  the  street  railway,  the  telegraph,  and  the  telephone 
come  to  be  business  necessities.    Powerful  unions  arise  among 
the  employees,  and  collective  bargaining  gradually  replaces 
the  individual  bargain  between  the  employer  and  the  em- 
ployee.   A  labor  dispute  between  the  manager  and  the  em- 
ployees of  a  railway  system,  a  coal  mining  company,  or  a 
large  steel  industry  now  becomes  a  matter  of  national  import. 
A  switchmen's  strike  ties  up  a  railway;  many  towns  and 
thousands  of  individuals  are  threatened  with  a  scarcity  of 
food  and  fuel  in  the  middle  of  a  severe  winter.     Business 
establishments  are  forced  to  suspend  operations,  and  famine 
and  the  winter's  cold  threaten  hundreds  who  do  not  know 
the  switchmen  or  the  railway  officials.     The  outside  world 
is  no  longer  willing  to  wait  complacently  while  the  contestants 
fight  it  out  according  to  the  old  individualistic  rules  of  the 
game.     The  struggle  throws  the  mechanism  of  the  business 
world  out  of  gear;  it  affects  the  comfort  and  the  happiness  of 
hundreds    of    distant    homes.     Suddenly    public    sentiment 
crystallizes,  and  the  public  demands  in  no  uncertain  tones 
that  there  shall  be  no  stoppage  of  the  arteries  of  trade.    Trans- 
portation facilities,  fuel,  food,  and  other  supplies  are  needed. 
The  difficulty  must  be  adjusted  and  industrial  warfare  must 


f 


Pi 


^3 


278    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

end,  or  society  through  its  instrument,  the  government,  will 
interfere  in  order  to  compel  the  continuous  operation  of  a 
so-called  private  business.  The  increasing  intricacy  of  the 
modem  industrial  system  has  made  the  stoppage  of  business 
activities  a  far-reaching  and  serious  matter.  New  theories 
of  govermental  powers  are  the  inevitable  consequences  of 
fundamental  economic  transformations. 

Improved  means  of  communication,  division  of  labor,  and 
the  centralization  of  industry  have  made  men  interdependent; 
each  has  become  dependent  upon  the  work  of  others  living  in 
different  parts  of  the  country,  —  of  the  world,  in  fact.  As 
our  social  and  industrial  organism  has  become  more  and  more 
complex,  it  has  at  the  same  time  grown  more  and  more  sensi- 
tive to  the  improper  functioning  of  any  part  of  the  organism. 
A  strike  or  a  lockout  means  a  large  area  of  disturbance  and  of 
unsettled  conditions.  The  public  becomes  the  third  interested 
party.  Individuals  and  groups  of  individuals  can  no  longer 
be  allowed  to  carry  on  an  industrial  war.  Such  a  war  is  as 
destructive  of  economic  welfare  as  a  feud  is  of  civic  warfare. 
The  civilized  substitute  for  the  feud  is  the  law  court.  The 
modem  alternative  for  industrial  warfare  in  the  great  indus- 
tries which  feed  the  arteries  of  the  business  world  is  some 
form  of  industrial  tribunal  using  arbitration,  conciliation,  or 
the  trade  agreement.  The  evolution  of  a  system  of  industrial 
tribunals  involves  or  implies  the  right  of  the  public  through 
its  legally  constituted  authorities  to  investigate  in  the  case  of 
labor  disputes;  it  further  implies  the  right  to  publicity  in  the 
affairs  of  large-scale  businesses.  Here  is  a  very  distinct  en- 
croachment upon  the  old  well-defined  sphere  of  private  busi- 
ness. In  fact,  private  is  now  translated  by  many  thoughtful 
and  conservative  people  to  be  synonomous  with  semi-public. 

In  spite  of  the  nominal  adherence  given  to  the  laissez  faire 
theory,  interference  with  business  by  society  is  not  a  new  and 
unusual  phenomenon.    Law  and  order  modify  the  conditions 


METHOjpS    OF    PROMOTING    INDUSTRIAL    PEACE      279 

of  crude  "jungle"  comperition.  The  enforcement  of  con- 
tracts, the  passage  of  protective  tariffs,  and  the  granting  of 
subsidies  are  familiar  acts  on  the  part  of  governments.  Bank- 
ers have  frequently  been  given  governmental  assistance  in  a 
time  of  panic.  Public  carriers,  inn-keepers,  and  cabmen 
have  long  been  subject  to  public  regulation.  Factory  legis- 
lation dates  back  to  the  first  years  of  last  century.  Provisions 
for  compulsory  arbitration  or  for  compulsory  investigation 
and  publicity  in  the  case  of  a  serious  labor  dispute  only  carry 
the  principle  of  governmental  interference  a  short  step  further. 
Yet,  many  people  fear  the  effect  of  compulsory  arbitration 
who  are  in  favor  of  protective  tariffs  and  ship  subsidies. 

After  large-scale  and  integrated  industry  has  destroyed  the 
potency  of  competition  as  a  regulator  of  wages  and  prices, 
the  public  is  placed  in  a  position  of  dependency  if  private 
business  is  uncontrolled,  and  all  large  industries  become  ripe 
for  public  regulation  or  public  ownership.  The  railways  are 
now  generally  recognized  to  be  quasi-public  industries;  and  all 
large  businesses  producing  the  necessities  and  comforts  of  life 
are  rapidly  passing  into  the  same  category.  At  present,  two 
kinds  of  industry  are  quite  generally  recognized  as  ripe  for 
active  intervention  on  the  part  of  society:— (a)  industries 
connected  with  the  public  utilities  such  as  railways  and  coal 
mines,  and  (b)'  the  sweated  industries.  In  the  latter  case  the 
govemment  interferes  in  order  to  protect  the  consumers,  to 
protect  the  weaker  members  of  the  wage  earning  classes,  and 
to  prevent  racial  deterioration.  It  regulates  the  public  utilities 
in  order  to  prevent  serious  disturbances  in  the  business  world 
and  to  avert  suffering  and  hardship  on  the  part  of  the  con- 
sumers and  the  producers  of  various  necessities  of  life.  There 
are  adequate  reasons  for  the  opinion  that  a  serious  railway 
strike  affecting  a  wide  area  is  unlawful  under  the  interstate 
commerce  acts  and  the  anti-tmst  acts,  or  under  the  railway 
act  passed  in  1920. 


t 


ft      I 


i 


Mr 


280     HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

Definitions.  As  the  terms  conciliation,  arbitration,  and 
trade  agreements  are  given  slightly  different  significations  by 
different  writers,  it  seems  necessary  to  define  the  terms  before 
proceeding  to  a  consideration  of  the  practical  applications  of 
these  substitutes  for  industrial  warfare.  When  a  third  party 
in  the  form  of  a  private  or  a  public  board  brings  employers 
and  employees  together  with  a  view  to  settling  some  dispute 
between  the  two  parties,  the  process  is  called  conciliation  or 
mediation.  Arbitration  implies  an  authoritative  board  or 
court  which  is  empowered  to  make  an  investigation  and  to 
settle  the  dispute.  The  suggestions  or  findings  of  a  board  of 
conciliation  may  or  may  not  be  accepted;  the  mandates  of  a 
board  of  arbitration  are  binding  upon  both  parties.  Arbitra- 
tion may  be  voluntary  or  compulsory,  and  primary  or  second- 
ary. Arbitration  is  voluntary  when  both  employers  and 
employees  agree  beforehand  to  accept  the  awards  of  the  board. 
Arbitration  is  compulsory  when  the  government  compels  the 
interested  parties  to  submit  the  case  to  the  board  and  to 
abide  by  its  findings.  Arbitration  may,  however,  be  com- 
pulsory only  in  regard  to  the  submission  of  the  case;  the 
enforcement  of  the  award  is  then  left  to  the  force  of  public 
opinion.  According  to  Mr.  Oilman,  the  term,  compulsory 
arbitration,  is  a  misnomer.  ^'Legal  regulation"  is  the  term 
which  he  uses.  Primary  arbitration  signifies  fixing  the  terms 
of  the  labor  contract  by  an  authoritative  and  impartial  board. 
Wages,  hours,  and  various  incidental  matters  are  to  be  deter- 
mined by  the  board.  It  is  the  process  of  making  the  laws 
which  determine  the  relations  of  capital  to  labor  in  a  given 
industry.  Secondary  arbitration  is  purely  judicial.  The 
board  interprets  the  existing  rules  and  regulations  in  regard 
to  the  payment  of  wages  and  the  like. 

Trade  agreements  are  compacts  in  regard  to  wages  and 
other  conditions  of  employment  made  by  joint  conferences 
attended  by  representatives  of  both  employers  and  employ- 


METHODS    OF    PROMOTING    INDUSTRIAL    PEACE     281 

ees.     The  joint  conference  system  is  a  methodical  type  of 
collective  bargaining.     Under  this  system  disagreements  are 
settled  '^within  the  family";  the  general  public  is  not  repre- 
sented.    In  the  system  of  conciliation,  the  "third  party" 
merely  intervenes  and  offers  its  services  in  bringing  the  parties 
together;  but  in  the  case  of  a  board  or  court  of  arbitration  the 
representatives  of  the  public  have  authority  to  adjust  differ- 
ences.    Under  the  system  of  arbitration  the  right  of  the  public 
to  intervene  in  so-called  private  business  is  clearly  recognized. 
Conciliation   and  Arbitration   in   the    United  States.^    The 
large  number  of  serious  strikes  in  the  eighties  led  President 
Cleveland  to  recommend  that  Congress  pass  legislation  pro- 
viding for  the  settlement  of  labor  disputes  which  threaten 
to  interfere  with  interstate  commerce.    A  law  was  passed  in 
1888  applying  to  disputes  between  transportation  companies 
engaged  in  interstate  commerce  and  the  employees  of  such 
companies.     Provision  was  made  for  the  organization  of  a 
temporary  board  of  arbitration  at  the  request  of  one  of  the 
parties  to  the  dispute,  provided  the  other  party  agreed.     The 
employers  were  to  choose  one  member,  the  employees  one, 
and  these  two  a  third  member.     This  board  could  subpoena 
witnesses  and  compel  the  introduction  of  material  relating  to 
the  labor  controversy.     The  board's  decision  was  to  be  pub- 
lished by  the  Commissioner  of  Labor.     The  award  was  not 
binding  upon  the  parties  concerned.     This  portion  of  the  act 
of  1888  was  never  used. 

The  President  was  given  power  to  appoint  two  commission- 
ers to  act  with  the  Commissioner  of  Labor  for  the  purpose  of 
investigating  any  labor  dispute  involving  corporations  en- 
gaged in  interstate  commerce.  This  investigating  board  also 
had  power  to  summon  witnesses  and  to  order  the  production 
of  papers.  The  decisions  and  recommendations  were  to 
be  made   public.     Such   an  investigating   commission  was 

*  The  chief  source  of  information  is  Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor.    No.  60. 


*'l 


I''- 


1<  ■ 


h ! 


m 


282     HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

appointed  soon  after  the  end  of  the  Pulhnan  strike  of  1894. 
The  report  of  the  commission  urged  the  extension  of  a  system 
of  intervention  by  the  states,  and  the  modification  of  the 
federal  law. 

The  act  of  1898  was  a  tangible  result  of  the  work  of  the 
Pullman  investigating  commission.  This  act,  which  super- 
seded that  of  1888,  provides  only  for  arbitration  and  concilia- 
tion, not  for  investigation  and  publicity.  A  permanent  board 
of  conciliation  is  provided  for  all  disputes  involving  railways 
engaged  in  interstate  commerce.  The  chairman  of  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission  and  the  Commissioner  of  Labor 
constitute  the  board.  Under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  the 
permanent  board  may  only  offer  its  services  as  a  mediator 
upon  the  request  of  one  of  the  parties  to  the  dispute.  In  case 
of  failure  to  adjust  the  difficulty,  the  board  is  required  to 
propose  arbitration.  Provision  is  also  made  for  voluntary 
arbitration.  A  temporary  board  composed  of  three  members 
is  authorized.  The  employers  are  to  chose  one  member;  the 
employees,  one;  and  these  two,  a  third  member.  If  the  first 
two  members  cannot  agree  upon  the  third,  he  is  to  be  selected 
by  the  permanent  board  of  conciliation.  The  court  has  the 
same  powers  in  regard  to  procedure  as  were  provided  under 
the  act  of  1888,  but  definite  provisions  are  inserted  as  to  the 
enforcement  of  its  awards.  The  law  "requires  that  the  par- 
ties shall  bind  themselves  under  pain  of  Uability  for  damages 
to  refrain  from  strike  or  lockout  pending  the  arbitration,  not 
to  evade  the  award  for  a  month  at  least  by  ceasing  to  hire  or 
be  employed,  and  if  work  and  employment  are  continued,  to 
fulfil  its  terms  for  a  year  and  the  award  is  made  enforceable 
as  the  judgment  of  a  United  States  Court."  ^  Submission  can 
occur,  however,  only  with  the  voluntary  consent  of  both 
parties.  There  was  practically  no  mediation  or  arbitration 
under  the  terms  of  this  law,  commonly  known  as  the  Erd- 

*  Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor.     No.  60  :  576. 


METHODS  OF  PROMOTING  INDUSTRIAL  PEACE     283 

« 

man  Act,  until  December,  1906.  Between  that  date  and 
April,  191 1,  applications  were  made  in  over  fifty  contro- 
versies, and  in  ten  of  these  all  or  a  part  of  the  questions 
have  gone  to  arbitration  boards. 

In  1913,  the  Erdman  Act  was  modified  by  the  Newlands 
Law.  Under  this  law  the  work  of  conciliation  was  given  to  a 
United  States  Board  of  Mediation  and  Conciliation  consistr 
ing  of  a  permanent  commissioner  and  two  other  officials.  This 
Board  may  act  on  its  own  initiative.  In  case  of  arbitration, 
the  number  of  arbitrators  may  be  increased  from  three  to  six. 
Under  the  two  acts  (to  January,  1917)  121  cases  were  sub- 
mitted. Of  these  70  were  settled  by  conciliation  and  2 1  by 
arbitration  or  by  arbitration  combined  with  conciliation.  Of 
the  remaining  30  cases,  the  services  of  the  mediators  were 
refused  or  a  direct  settlement  made.'  This  Board  has  failed 
to  achieve  important  results.  As  the  cost  of  living  increased 
and  demands  for  higher  wages  became  insistent,  the  Board 
became  practically  powerless.  In  the  controversy  of  19 16 
which  led  to  the  hasty  passage  of  the  Adamson  Act,  the 
Board  was  unable  to  function  in  a  forceful  manner. 

The  federal  government  assumed  control  of  the  railways 
on  December  26,  191 7.  Under  the  Railroad  Administration 
three  railway  boards  of  adjustment  were  created.  Each 
board  functioned  with  a  special  class  of  railway  employees. 
These  boards  were  composed  of  an  equal  number  of  repre- 
sentatives of  employees  and  managers.  Their  work  was 
restricted  to  settling  minor  controversies  and  making  in- 
terpretations of  general  decisions.  Under  the  provisions  of 
the  Transportation  Act  passed  just  before  the  railways  were 
returned  to  private  ownership  on  March  i,  1920,  two  types 
of  boards  were  created  to  handle  industrial  disputes:  —  rail- 
way labor  adjustment  boards  and  a  "Railroad  Labor  Board." 
Labor  adjustment  boards   "may  be   established  by  agree- 

^  Young,  Annals  of  American  Academy,  January,  191 7,  p.  271. 


4 

If",  i 


n 


1^ 


284    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

ment"  between  the  railways  and  their  employees.  It  is 
evidently  expected  that  these  boards,  if  established,  will 
function  somewhat  as  did  those  under  the  federal  railway 
admmistration.  The  important  feature  of  the  labor  pro- 
visions of  the  act  is  the  creation  of  the  Railroad  Labor  Board. 
This  board  consists  of  nine  members  chosen  by  the  President. 
Three  represent  the  labor  group;  three,  the  management; 
and  three,  the  public.  This  board  is  given  considerable 
authority.  It  is  empowered  to  make  investigations  as  to  the 
relations  of  carriers  to  their  employees,  and  to  publish  the 
results.  It  has  the  power  to  subpoena  witnesses  and  is  given 
access  to  books  and  records  relating  to  matters  under  con- 
sideration. If  a  dispute  regarding  wages  or  other  matters 
cannot  be  settled  by  the  parties  concerned,  it  shall  be  referred 
to  the  Board.  The  Board  is  required  to  make  a  decision. 
This  decision  is  not  binding;  but  the  Board  is  authorized  to 
determine  whether  or  not  its  decisions  are  carried  out,  and 
to  make  public  the  details  of  the  determination.  Public 
opinion  is  apparently  the  ultimate  court  of  appeal.  How- 
ever, it  may  be  suggested  that  in  an  emergency  the  injunction 
may  be  used  by  the  courts  to  obtain  obedience  to  the  findings 
of  the  Board  and  to  prevent  a  railway  tieup.  The  life  of  the 
old  Board  of  Mediation  and  Conciliation  is  riot  ended  by  this 
statute;  but  its  powers  shall  not  extend  to  any  dispute  before 
an  adjustment  board  or  the  Raibroad  Labor  Board.^ 

The  act  of  1913  creating  a  Department  of  Labor,  provided 
that  the  Secretary  of  Labor  shall  have  power  to  act  as  a 
mediator  and  appoint  commissioners  of  conciliation  in  labor 
disputes,  whenever  conditions  warrant  such  action.  A 
conciliation  division  has  been  organized  in  the  Department. 
This  division  apparently  does  not  intervene  in  disputes  which 
come  under  the  scope  of  the  railway  labor  boards.     The 

1  Monthly  Labor  Review,  April,  1920;  Chenery,  The  Survey,  February  28, 
1920.  * 


METHODS  OF  PROMOTING  INDUSTRL\L  PEACE     2S5 

mediation  work  of  the  division  has  been  fairly  successful. 
It  was  reported,  for  example,  that  the  Department  of  Labor 
intervened  in  122  labor  disputes  from  November  16  to  De- 
cember 15,  1918. 

In  191 5,  about  thirty  states  had  laws  upon  their  statute 
books  in  regard  to  conciliation  or  arbitration  in  the  case  of 
labor  disputes.  The  first  state  law  was  passed  by  Maryland 
in  1878;  New  Jersey  followed  in  1880.  A  Report  of  the 
Bureau  of  Labor  groups  these  laws  into  four  classes:  (i)  Local 
arbitration  is  provided,  and  the  boards  are  temporary  in 
character.  (2)  Permanent  local  boards  may  be  established 
by  private  parties.  (3)  The  State  Commissioners  of  Labor 
are  authorized  to  arbitrate  or  to  mediate.  (4)  Special  state 
boards  or  coromissions  are  authorized. 

The  first-named  system  is  the  earliest  system  tried  in  the 
United  States.  The  laws  proved  to  be  of  no  practical  value. 
In  several  states  this  scheme  has  been  incorporated  in  the  law 
as  a  supplement  to  a  state  board;  but  in  those  states  the 
provision  has  also  proven  to  be  of  little  practical  importance. 
The  second  system  has  also  been  found  ineffectual.  In  only 
one  of  the  four  states  placing  laws  of  this  character  upon  their 
statute  books  did  any  tangible  results  follow.  In  Pennsyl- 
vania a  few  instances  of  successful  work  on  the  part  of  private 
boards  are  recorded.  The  success  of  the  third  system  in  five 
states  has  not  been  such  as  to  justify  an  extension  to  other 
states. 

A  score  or  more  of  states  have  adopted  the  fourth  sys- 
tem providing  for  permanent  state  boards  for  the  purpose  of 
intervention  in  case  of  labor  disputes.  Massachusetts  and 
New  York  are  the  pioneers,  and  nearly  all  the  remaining 
states  using  this  system  have  copied  largely  from  the  laws  of 
these  two  states.  The  state  boards  are  usually  designated 
boards  of  conciliation  and  arbitration.  The  members  are 
almost  invariably  appointed  by  the  governor,  and  in  most 


I 


l:f[ 

3*  ( 


I' 


286    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

states  are  confirmed  by  the  state  senate.  The  members  are 
usually  three  in  number,  although  one  officer  only  is  provided 
in  some  states.  In  only  a  few  states  have  the  activities  of 
the  boards  been  considerable.  The  most  successful  are  those 
of  Massachusetts,  New  York  and  Ohio.  Three  kinds  of 
action  can  be  taken  by  the  state  boards,  —  conciliation, 
arbitration  and  investigation.  Except  under  the  1920  law  in 
Kansas,  the  arbitration  provided  for  is  voluntary;  the  de- 
cision is  not  mandatory.  In  191 5,  204  cases  were  submitted 
to  the  state  board  of  Massachusetts.  "Of  these,  86  were 
voluntarily  submitted  for  arbitration;  100  others  were  settled 
amicably  by  mediation.  In  18  others,  mediation  failed  and 
arbitration  was  refused,  so  that  the  board  used  the  power 
...  of  making  a  public  inquiry  with  recommendations. 
These  were  accepted  by  the  parties  in  all  except  5  cases."  ^ 
But  the  records  of  other  states  are  less  encouraging.  As  yet 
the  habit  of  referring  industrial  disputes  to  a  state  board  is 
far  from  being  well  established. 

In  January,  1920,  the  legislature  of  Kansas  passed  an  act 
providing  for  compulsory  arbitration  in  industries  "afTected 
with  a  pubHc  interest.''  This  legislation  is  a  direct  conse- 
quence of  conditions  growing  out  of  the  soft  coal  strike  of 
1919.  The  industries  "affected  with  a  public  interest"  are 
public  utilities,  the  manufacture  of  food  products  and  cloth- 
ing in  common  use,  coal  mining,  and  the  transportation  of  the 
products  of  such  industries.  The  act  establishes  a  Court  of 
Industrial  Relations  which  is  given  the  power  in  the  indus- 
tries covered  by  the  act  to  decide  industrial  disputes,  to  punish 
strikers,  and,  if  necessary,  to  take  control  of  industries  in 
which  the  rulings  of  the  court  are  not  obeyed.  An  individual 
or  even  a  group  of  individuals  may  quit  their  employment 
at  any  time;  but  concerted  action  in  the  form  of  an  organ- 
ized strike  or  boycott  or  for  the  purpose  of  hindering  the 
1  Young,  The  Annals  of  American  Academy,  Januar>',  1917,  p.  274. 


METHODS  OF  PROMOTING  INDUSTRIAL  PEACE    287 

operation  of  an  industry  ''affected  with  public  interest"  is 
unlawful.    The  three  members  of  the  Court  are  chosen  by 
the  Governor.      It  is  not  necessary  that  any  particular  in- 
terest be  represented.    This  law  is  an  experiment  attempted 
in  a  state  in  which  the  industrial  situation  is  not  complex. 
Success  in  Kansas  would  by  no  means  prove  its  desirability 
in  New  York  or  Ohio.     It  has  been  bitterly  attacked  by 
representatives  of  organized  labor;   and  it  is  defended  by  its 
friends  as  a  sort  of  newly  discovered  panacea.     The  law  is, 
of  course,  subject  to  all  of  the  disadvantages  of  compulsory 
arbitration;  but  the  fact  that  the  scope  of  the  act  is  limited 
throws  into  bold  relief  the  evident  necessity  of  the  continuous 
functioning  of  essential  industries.    The  philosophy  under- 
lying the  act  appears  to  be  that  in  essential  industries  the 
right  of  the  consuming  public  to  demand  uninterrupted  flow 
of  output  is  paramount  to  the  right  of  workers  in  such  in- 
dustries to  use  the  ordinary  union  weapons  to  secure  increases 
in  wages  or  improved  working  conditions.^    The  attitude  of 
the  friends  of  the  Kansas  act  is  well  illustrated  by  the  question 
asked  by  Governor  Allen  of  Kansas  of  Mr.  Gompers  in  the 
course  of  their  debate  in  regard  to  the  law.     "When  a  dis- 
pute between  capital  and  labor  brings  on  a  strike  affecting 
the  production  or  distribution   of   the  necessaries   of   life, 
thus  threatening  the  public  peace  and  impairing  the  public 
health,  has  the  public  any  rights  in  such  a  controversy,  or  is 
it  a  private  war  between  capital  and  labor?" 

Federal  Commissions  on  Industrial  Relations,  One  of  the 
most  important  and  spectacular  examples  of  arbitration  in  the 
case  of  a  labor  dispute  in  this  country  was  the  settlement  of 
the  anthracite  coal  strike  of  1902.  Nearly  all  the  anthracite 
coal  consumed  in  this  country  is  mined  within  a  small  area 
located  in  the  state  of  Pennsylvania.    The  strike  lasted  from 

*  Atkins,  Journal  of  Political  Economy,  April,  1920;  Fitch,  The  Survey, 
April  3,  1920;  Huggins,  The  Survey,  May  20, 1920. 


n 


■1 


^, 


HR  f 


U\     I 


m 


288     HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

May  12  to  October  23, 1902.  Practically  all  the  mine  workers, 
to  the  number  of  about  147.00O'  ^^^^  work  and  remained  idle, 
during  the  entire  period.  While  the  actual  conflict  was  con- 
fined to  the  anthracite  region,  the  effects  of  the  long  strike 
were  felt  far  and  wide.  Actual  sufTering  and  privation 
seemed  to  stare  in  the  face  many  citizens  scattered  through- 
out the  northern  portion  of  the  United  States.  Practically 
every  householder  in  the  North,  dwelling  in  towns  and  cities, 
felt  the  effects  of  this  strike.  Public  opinion  was  stirred  as 
perhaps  never  before  or  since  b^  an  industrial  struggle;  old 
theories  and  beliefs,  venerable  with  age  and  supported  by 
the  dearest  of  American  traditions,  were  hastily  thrust  to  one 
side.  The  President  of  the  nation,  throwing  precedent,  red- 
tape,  and  legal  technicalities  to  the  winds,  saw  fit  to  use  his 
official  influence  in  bringing  the  combat  to  a  close,  and  in 
arranging  for  a  settlement  by  means  of  arbitration.  The 
rights  of  the  general  public  to  demand  the  uninterrupted 
mining  of  coal  received  substantial  recognition. 

On  October  16,  1902,  President  Roosevelt  appointed  the 
Anthracite   Coal   Strike   Commission.     The   mine   operators 
and  the  miners  agreed  in  advance  to  abide  by  the  decision  of 
the  Commission.     The  miners  went  back  to  work,  and  the 
Commission  made  a  very  careful  study  of  the  labor  situation 
in  the  anthracite  region.    Their  report  is  dated  March  18, 
1903     The  miners  were  granted  an  increase  in  wages  of  ten 
per  cent  above  the  rate  paid  in  April,  1902.     Various  con- 
troverted matters,  such  as  the  employment  of  check  weighmen 
and  the  distribution  of  mine  cars,  were  considered  in  the 
award  of  the  Commission.     A  method  of  conciliation  was 
provided  in  order  to  settle  questions  of  interpretation  of  the 
terms  of  the  award.    Strikes  and  lockouts  were  forbidden 
during  the  life  of  the  award,  but  the  right  to  discharge  work- 
men without  reference  to  the  board  of  conciliation  was  not 
taken  from  the  employer.    The  worker  lost  the  right  to  strike, 


METHODS  OF  PROMOTING  INDUSTRIAL  PEACE     289 

but  the  employer  was  allowed  the  right  to  discharge  employ- 
ees with  or  without  adequate  cause.  This  clause  in  the 
award  militated  against  the  labor  organizations  in  the  district. 
The  right  to  strike  is  a  check  upon  the  arbitrary  use  of  the 
right  to  discharge.  The  award  provided  for  the  open  shop. 
According  to  its  provisions  no  person  should  be  discriminated 
against  because  of  membership  or  non-membership  in  a  labor 
organization.  The  life  of  the  award  was  three  years,  or  until 
March  31,  1906.  The  Commission  recommended  in  its 
report  that  the  President  be  given  authority  to  appoint  a 
commission  of  ''compulsory  investigation"  whenever  a  labor 
controversy  arose  which  threatened  to  interfere  with  the  free 
movement  of  interstate  commerce.  The  chief  benefit  to  be 
derived  from  compulsory  investigation  "lies  in  placing  the 
real  facts  and  the  responsibility  for  such  condition  authori- 
tatively before  the  people,  that  public  opinion  may  crystal- 
lize and  make  its  power  felt." 

The  strike  of  the  bituminous  coal  miners  which  occurred  in 
November,  19 19,  was  also  settled  by  the  appointment  of  a 
commission  of  three  members,  one  representing  the  miners; 
one,  the  operators;  and  one,  the  public.  The  majority  re- 
port provided  for  a  27  per  cent  increase  in  wages  and  continued 
the  eight-hour  day.  A  series  of  recommendations  were  made 
looking  toward  the  early  purchase  and  storage  of  the  winter's 
supply  of  coal  by  various  governmental  agencies,  and  toward 
better  distribution  of  cars  by  the  railways.  The  representa- 
tive of  the  miners,  Mr.  John  P.  White,  offered  a  minority 
report  favoring  among  other  things,  a  greater  increase  in 
wages.  The  majority  report  was  accepted  by  miners  and 
operators.  In  June,  1920,  a  similar  commission  was  appointed 
by  President  Wilson  to  make  an  award  for  the  anthracite 
coal  district. 

The    Federal    Commission    on    Industrial    Relations    was 
appointed  under  the  provisions  of  an  act  passed  in  191 2  to 


1   I 


It 


If'*"  ; 


290    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

investigate  the  causes  of  industrial  unrest  in  the  United  States. 
This  commission  was  composed  of  nine  persons,  —  three 
representing  the  employers;  three,  the  general  public;  and 
three,  organized  labor.  It  conducted  hearings  in  various 
parts  of  the  country  and  employed  a  corps  of  expert  inves- 
tigators. In  the  Report  made  in  191 5,  all  the  members 
united  in  recognizing  the  important  function  in  the  main- 
tenance of  industrial  peace  which  should  be  performed  by 
trade  agreement  systems,  and  by  governmental  machinery  for 
mediation  and  voluntary  arbitration.^  During  the  summer 
of  191 7,  industrial  disturbances  in  the  West  tended  to  lessen 
the  output  of  certain  essential  war  materials,  such  as  copper 
and  oil.  Early  in  the  fall  of  191 7,  President  Wilson  appointed 
the  President's  Mediation  Commission  to  investigate  and 
make  special  adjustments.  The  Secretary  of  Labor  was 
appointed  chairman  and  four  others  were  associated  with 
him.  This  commission  "spent  several  months  in  constant 
travel  and  investigation,  visiting  the  copper  districts  of  Ari- 
zona, the  oil  fields  of  California,  the  Pacific  Northwest  timber 
districts,  and  other  sections  where  industry  had  been  dis- 
turbed by  labor  unrest.''  This  commission  also  recommended 
the  establishment  of  "some  form  of  collective  relationship 
between  men  and  management."  It  advocated  the  creation 
of  administrative  machinery  "for  the  orderly  disposition  of 
industrial  issues  and  the  avoidance  of  an  atmosphere  of 
contention  and  the  waste  of  disturbance."  ^ 

When  the  United  States  entered  the  War,  a  herculean 
task  faced  a  peace-loving  nation.  It  was  necessary  that 
industry  be  speeded  up  and  be  efficiently  directed  and  kept 
in  continuous  operation.  Industrial  disputes  culminating 
in  strikes  or  lockouts  could  not  be  tolerated.  At  first,  there 
was  inevitably  much  confusion  incident  to  the  hurried  ex- 

*  Senate  Document  No.  415.    Sixty-fourth  Congress,  First  Session. 

*  Annual  Report  of  the  Department  of  Labor  (19 18). 


METHODS  OF  PROMOTING  INDUSTRIAL  PEACE    291 

pansion  of  governmental  administration  from  a  peace  to  a 
war  footing.     Departments  competed  with  each  other;  labor 
drifted  from  one  plant  to  another;  and  a  shortage  of  labor  and 
a  lowering  of  the  standard  of  employment  were  threatened. 
FinaUy  a  War  Labor  Conference  Board  was  appointed,  and 
began  its  sittings  on  February  25,  1918.    This  Board  con- 
sisted of  five  members  representing  the  employers  of  the 
nation  nominated  by  the  National  Industrial   Conference 
Board,  five  representing  organized  labor  nominated  by  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor,  and  Mr.  Frank  P.  Walsh 
and  Ex-President  Taft.    This  Board  suggested  the  creation 
for  the  period  of  the  ^War  of  a  National  War  Labor  Board 
"to  bring  about  a  settlement  by  mediation  and  conciHation 
of  every  controversy  arising  between  employers  and  workers 
in  the  field  of  production  necessary  for  the  effective  conduct 
of  the  War."    The  Board  was  organized  and  the  members 
of  the  Labor  Conference  Board  were  appointed  to  constitute 
the  War  Labor  Board.     Mr.  Walsh  and  Ex-President  Taft 
were    designated    joint    chairmen.     Among    the    important 
principles  and  policies  adopted  to  govern  industrial  relations 
during  the  War  were  the  foUowing:    "There  should  be  no 
strikes  or  lockouts  during  the  War."     "The  right  of  workers 
to  organize  in  trade  unions  and  to  bargain  collectively,  through 
chosen  representatives,  is  recognized  and  affirmed."     "The 
right  of  employers  to  organize  in  associations  of  groups  and  to 
bargain  collectively,  through  chosen  representatives,  is  recog- 
nized   and    affirmed."      "Employers   should    not   discharge 
workers  for  membership  in  trade  unions,  nor  for  legitimate 
trade  union  activities."      "The  workers,  in  the  exercise  of 
their  right  to  organize,  shall  not  u^e  coercive  measures  of  any 
kind  to  induce  persons  to  joinl\:heir  organizations,  nor  to 
mduce   employers    to  bargain   and   deal    therewith."      The 
principles  laid  down  by  the  National  War  Labor  Board  con- 
ceded nearly  all   of   labor's   essential  demands  except  the 


1 

Ml 


Ki 


!M 


1 


•  f 


292     HISTORY   AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

dosed  shop.  Labor's  right  to  organize  was  definitely  pro- 
tected under  the  war  power  of  the  government.  Soon  after 
the  armistice,  the  National  War  Labor  Board  ceased  to 
function  effectively. 

President  Wilson  called  a  National  Industrial  Conference 
to  meet  in  Washington,  D.  C,  on  October  6,  1919.     It  was 
to  be  the  duty  of  the  Conference  to  ''discuss  such  methods 
as  have  already  been  tried  out  of  bringing  capital  and  labor 
into  close  cooperation,"  and  to  work  out  some  practicable 
form  of  industrial  relationship  which  would  avoid  industrial 
warfare    and    promote    cooperation.     This    Conference    was 
composed  of  17  members  representing  the  employers'  group, 
19  representing  the  labor  group,  and   22  representing  the 
public.     The  steel  strike  was  in  progress  and  it  was  soon 
evident  that  this  tripartite  Conference  could  not  come  to 
an  agreement.     The  rock  upon  which  the  Conference  split 
was  that  of  collective  bargaining  through  union  representa- 
tives.   The  labor  group  refused  to  accept  any  other  type  of 
collective  bargaining.    The  employers'  group  insisted  that 
in  collective  bargaining  the  representatives  of  the  workers 
in  a  given  plant  be  chosen  ''by  and  from  among  them." 
This  plan  would  bar  the  use  of  national  union  leaders  as 
representatives  of  the  workers.     Presently  the  labor  group 
withdrew  from  the  Conference.^ 

Soon  after  the  dissolution  of  the  first  Conference,  President 
Wilson  called  another  Industrial  Conference.  In  this  case, 
the  familiar  form  of  interest-group  representation  was  aband- 
oned. The  second  Conference  was  composed  of  seventeen 
citizens;  it  met  in  private  session.  Secretary  of  Labor 
Wilson  was  chairman  and  Mr.  Herbert  Hoover,  vice-chairman. 
The  Conference  decided  that  its  task  was  not  to  study  the 
causes  of  industrial  unrest  but  that  of  suggesting  practical 
measures  to  avert  industrial  conflicts.     Its  report,  therefore, 

1  Monthly  Labor  Rmeiv,  November,  iqiq,  PP-  40-49- 


METHODS  OF  PROMOTING  INDUSTRIAL   PEACE     293 

suggests  a  detailed  plan  of  mediation,  voluntary  arbitration, 
investigation  and  publicity  in  cases  of  industrial  disputes. 
Since  the  plan  was  unanimously  adopted  by  the  Conference, 
it  of  necessity  represents  a  middle-of-the-road  policy;  it  will 
not  be  satisfactory  either  to  certain  conservative  labor  leaders 
or  to  reactionary  employers.  And,  of  course,  the  members 
of  radical  groups  will  reject  it.  Nevertheless,  the  Conference 
Report  offers  an  ingenious  scheme  for  focussing  public  opinion 
upon  recalcitrant  employers  and  employees  who,  unable  to 
reach  an  agreement  among  themselves,  refuse  to  accept 
mediation  or  voluntary  arbitration  in  a  labor  dispute. 

The  system  of  settlement  proposed  by  the  Conference 
consists  of  a  nation-wide  plan,  providing  for  a  National 
Industrial  Board,  and  for  local  conferences  and  boards  of 
inquiry.  The  Conference  correctly  holds  that  "  the  strategic 
place  to  begin  battle  with  misunderstanding  is  within  the 
industrial  plant  itself.  Primarily,  the  settlement  must  come 
from  the  bottom,  not  from  the  top."  The  plan  provides 
for  a  permanent  regional  chairman  in  each  of  a  number  of 
districts  into  which  the  nation  should  be  divided.  The 
parties  to  a  dispute  may  submit  their  differences  to  a  regional 
board  consisting  of  the  chairman  and  eight  others.  Four  of 
these  represent  the  employer  group,  and  four  the  employee 
group;  two  from  each  group  shall  be  direct  representatives 
of  the  parties  concerned  in  the  dispute.  If  the  regional 
conference  does  not  agree  unanimously,  the  matter  may  go 
to  the  National  Industrial  Board  or  to  an  umpire.  If  the 
parties  to  the  dispute,  or  one  of  them,  refuse  to  submit  the 
dispute  in  the  manner  outlined,  a  regional  board  of  inquiry 
shall  be  formed  consisting  of  the  regional  chairman,  two 
employers  and  two  employees  from  the  industry  concerned. 
This  board  has  the  right  to  subpoena  witnesses  and  records 
and  to  publish  its  findings.  Public  opinion  is  depended 
upon  to  bring  about  an  acceptance  of  the  findings  of  a  board 


INTENTIONAL  SECOND  EXPOSURE 


n 


I 


292    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

closed  shop.  Labor's  right  to  organize  was  definitely  pro- 
tected under  the  war  power  of  the  government.  Soon  after 
the  armistice,   the  National  War  Labor   Board  ceased  to 

function  efifectively. 

President  Wilson  called  a  National  Industrial  Conference 
to  meet  in  Washington,  D.  C,  on  October  6,  1919.     It  was 
to  be  the  duty  of  the  Conference  to  ''discuss  such  methods 
as  have  aheady  been  tried  out  of  bringing  capital  and  labor 
into  close  cooperation,"  and  to  work  out  some  practicable 
form  of  industrial  relationship  which  would  avoid  industrial 
warfare   and   promote    cooperation.    This    Conference   was 
composed  of  17  members  representing  the  employers'  group, 
19  representing  the  labor  group,  and  22  representing  the 
pubUc.    The  steel  strike  was  in  progress  and  it  was  soon 
evident  that  this  tripartite  Conference  could  not  come  to 
an  agreement.    The  rock  upon  which  the  Conference  split 
was  that  of  collective  bargaining  through  union  representa- 
tives.    The  labor  group  refused  to  accept  any  other  type  of 
collective  bargaining.    The  employers'  group  insisted  that 
in  collective  bargaining  the  representatives  of  the  workers 
in  a  given  plant  be  chosen  ''by  and  from  among  them.' 
This  plan  would  bar  the  use  of  national  union  leaders  as 
representatives  of  the  workers.    Presently  the  labor  group 
withdrew  from  the  Conference.^ 

Soon  after  the  dissolution  of  the  first  Conference,  President 
Wilson  called  another  Industrial  Conference.  In  this  case, 
the  familiar  form  of  interest-group  representation  was  aband- 
oned. The  second  Conference  was  composed  of  seventeen 
citizens;  it  met  in  private  session.  Secretary  of  Labor 
Wilson  was  chairman  and  Mr.  Herbert  Hoover,  vice-chairman. 
The  Conference  decided  that  its  task  was  not  to  study  the 
causes  of  industrial  unrest  but  that  of  suggesting  practical 
measures  to  avert  industrial  conflicts.  Its  report,  therefore, 
I  Monthly  Labor  Rmeii',  November,  iqiq,  pp.  40-49- 


METHODS  OF  PROMOTING  INDUSTRIAL  PEACE    293 

suggests  a  detailed  plan  of  mediation,  voluntary  arbitration, 
investigation  and  publicity  in  cases  of  industrial  disputes. 
Since  the  plan  was  unanimously  adopted  by  the  Conference, 
it  of  necessity  represents  a  middle-of-the-road  poUcy;  it  will 
not  be  satisfactory  either  to  certain  conservative  labor  leaders 
or  to  reactionary  employers.  And,  of  course,  the  members 
of  radical  groups  will  reject  it.  Nevertheless,  the  Conference 
Report  offers  an  ingenious  scheme  for  focussing  public  opinion 
upon  recalcitrant  employers  and  employees  who,  unable  to 
reach  an  agreement  among  themselves,  refuse  to  accept 
mediation  or  voluntary  arbitration  in  a  labor  dispute. 

The  system  of  settlement  proposed  by  the  Conference 
consists  of  a  nation-wide  plan,  providing  for  a  National 
Industrial  Board,  and  for  local  conferences  and  boards  of 
inquiry.  The  Conference  correctly  holds  that  "the  strategic 
place  to  begin  battle  with  misunderstanding  is  within  the 
industrial  plant  itself.  Primarily,  the  settlement  must  come 
from  the  bottom,  not  from  the  top."  The  plan  provides 
for  a  permanent  regional  chairman  in  each  of  a  number  of 
districts  into  which  the  nation  should  be  divided.  The 
parties  to  a  dispute  may  submit  their  differences  to  a  regional 
board  consisting  of  the  chairman  and  eight  others.  Four  of 
these  represent  the  employer  group,  and  four  the  employee 
group;  two  from  each  group  shall  be  direct  representatives 
of  the  parties  concerned  in  the  dispute.  If  the  regional 
conference  does  not  agree  unanimously,  the  matter  may  go 
to  the  National  Industrial  Board  or  to  an  umpire.  If  the 
parties  to  the  dispute,  or  one  of  them,  refuse  to  submit  the 
dispute  in  the  manner  outlined,  a  regional  board  of  inquiry 
shall  be  formed  consisting  of  the  regional  chairman,  two 
employers  and  two  employees  from  the  industry  concerned. 
This  board  has  the  right  to  subpoena  witnesses  and  records 
and  to  publish  its  findings.  Public  opinion  is  depended 
upon  to  bring  about  an  acceptance  of  the  findings  of  a  board 


r 


III 


Hi 


294    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

of  inquiry;  and  moral  compulsion  is  the  only  force  used  in 
compelling  the  acceptance  of  the  awards  of  a  regional  con- 
ference or  of  the  National  Industrial  Board.  The  National 
Industrial  Board  of  nine  members  is  to  supervise  the  entire 
system  and  give  it  nation-wide  unity. ^ 

Advantages  and  Defects  of  Arbitration  aftd  Conciliation.  The 
resort  to  trade  agreements  or  to  arbitration  and  conciliation 
brings  employers  and  employees  into  closer  touch  with  each 
other.  Much  trouble  and  friction  in  industrial  circles  are 
caused  by  the  lack  of  sympathy  between  the  workers  and 
their  employers.  After  representatives  of  both  parties  are 
mduced  to  gather  around  a  table  for  a  face  to  face  presenta- 
tion of  opinion  in  regard  to  the  controverted  matters,  a  long 
step  has  been  taken  toward  industrial  peace.  When  both 
sides  are  presented,  prejudice  and  preconceived  notions  often 
undergo  modification.  A  glimpse  of  the  other  man's  view- 
point is  often  illuminating,  educative,  and  fruitful  of  conces- 
sions. The  peaceful  method  of  determining  the  conditions  of 
employment  gives  stability  to  business  enterprises  because 
certain  elements  of  uncertainty  are  removed.  Compulsory 
arbitration  tends  to  prevent  great  extremes  in  the  wage 
scale;  and  monopolistic  action  on  the  part  of  powerful  unions 
of  skilled  men  is  difficult  under  a  system  of  compulsory 
arbitration.  The  strike  and  the  closed  shop  policy  frequently 
enable  certain  strong,  unions  to  establish  a  higher  minimum 
wage  than  would  be  fixed  under  a  system  of  arbitration. 

Compulsory  arbitration  means  that  the  strike  and  the  boy- 
cott must  be  given  up.  The  loss  of  these  weapons  tends  to 
reduce  the  virility  of  the  unions.  Under  a  system  of  com- 
pulsory arbitration,  organized  labor  would  be  forced  into 
the  political  arena.  Under  the  joint  conference  system,  the 
sympathetic  strike  must  also  be  given  up.     The  radicals  in 

*  Monthly  Labor  Review^  January  and  April,  1920;  Ttu  Survey^  March  27, 
1920. 


METHODS  OF  PROMOTING  INDUSTRIAL  PEACE    295 

the  ranks  of  organized  labor  object  to  this  system  and  to 
making  contracts  with  their  employers  because  by  so  doing 
they  forfeit  the  right  to  strike  at  what  seems  to  be  a  propi- 
tious moment.  The  joint  conference  system  neglects  the 
^  interests  of  the  general  public.  In  it  lies  the  possibiUty  of  a 
combined  monopoly  of  labor  and  capital.  Joint  agreements 
may  mean  higher  wages  linked  with  higher  prices.  Increases 
in  the  wage  rate  may  be  met  by  increases  in  the  price  of  the 
article  to  the  consumers;  and  monopoly  profits  may  even 
increase  as  wages  rise.*  Both  sides  in  a  labor  controversy 
often  fear  the  outside  party  who  is  unacquainted  with  the 
particular  business.  A  preference  is  frequently  expressed 
for  a  form  of  agreement  "within  the  family."  If  the  state 
interferes  with  labor  by  providing  for  some  form  of  con- 
ciliation or  mediation  and  arbitration,  it  is  logical  for  labor 
to  demand  that  the  status  of  the  industry  be  made  clear  to 
the  employees,  that  proper  accounting  methods  be  required 
of  the  corporation,  and,  finally,  that  the  authority  of  govern- 
ment be  used  to  force  the  adoption  of  efficient  business 
methods  in  order  that  funds  may  be  accumulated  out  of 
which  fair  wages  may  be  paid. 

The  advantages  of  the  policy  of  settling  industrial  disputes 
by  means  of  arbitration  are  easily  presented.  Arbitration, 
successfully  employed,  means  peace  in  industry  instead  of 
war.  It  prevents  strikes,  lockouts  and  boycotts;  and  busi- 
ness activities  may  go  forward  without  danger  of  periodic 
interruption.  The  great  losses  from  such  interruptions  are 
not  incurred;  and  the  friction  between  employers  and  em- 
ployees incident  to  strikes,  boycotts  or  even  the  more  orderly 
processes  of  collective  bargaining,  is  eliminated.  A  judicial 
or  quasi-judicial  determination  of  controverted  points  is  sub- 
stituted for  the  cruder  and  more  direct  appeal  to  the  strength 

*  Clark,  "Monopoly  and  the  Struggle  of  Classes,"  Political  Science  Quarterly. 
Vol.  18:  599  fif. 


I'      R 


f 


Pi 


ii 


296    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

of  organized  labor  on  the  one  hand  and  of  organized  capital 
on  the  other.  It  may,  with  a  reasonable  degree  of  fitness^ 
be  compared  with  the  substitution  of  court  procedure  for  the 
feud  and  the  duel. 

The  defects  of  the  policy  of  arbitration  are  more  difficult 
of  presentation.  More  subtle  considerations  are  involved  and 
the  clashing  of  divergent  interests  and  points  of  view  come 
much  more  clearly  into  the  foreground,  (i)  The  most  serious 
defect  in  a  system  of  compulsory  arbitration  grows  out  of  the 
absence  of  any  definite  and  generally  accepted  standard  for 
the  determination  of  a  wage  rate.  No  theory  of  wages,  now 
formulated,  has  satisfactorily  stood  the  test  of  criticism  and 
of  practical  application  in  the  industrial  world;  and  no  board 
of  arbitration  has  been  able  to  present  a  scientific  standard 
by  means  of  which  disputes  as  to  wage  rates  may  be  authori- 
tatively and  accurately  settled.  Consequently,  boards  of 
arbitration  have  as  a  rule  compromised  in  fixing  wage  scales. 
When  more  than  a  mere  compromise  between  opposing  de- 
mands has  been  attempted,  arbitrators  have  been  influenced 
by  a  knowledge  of  what  has  been  paid  in  the  past  in  the 
industry  under  investigation,  or  what  is  now  being  paid  in 
other  shops  and  localities;  or  they  have  rested  their  decision 
upon  the  basis  of  the  standard  of  living  by  them  considered 
adequate  for  the  wage  workers  concerned.  The  first  al- 
ternative spells  fixity,  and  will  be  further  discussed  under 
the  head  of  the  fourth  defect. 

The  second  method  cannot  be  considered  scientific  so  long 
as  no  definite  concept  of  the  standard  of  living  exists.  In 
fixing  railway  rates  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
has  certain  fairly  definite  items  as  points  of  departure,  such 
as  the  actual  investment,  the  depreciation,  market  rates  of 
interest,  the  cost  of  operation.  In  the  determination  of  a 
wage  award,  the  standard  of  living  is  such  an  indefinite  con- 
cept that  difficulties  arise  which  prevent  any  scientific  award. 


METHODS  OF  PROMOTING  INDUSTRIAL  PEACE     297 

Some  of  the  problems  are:  What  is  the  standard  of  living? 
Should  it  gradually  rise  as  the  years  go  by?  Should  an  allow- 
ance be  made  for  the  physical  deterioration  of  the  worker? 
Should  an  allowance  be  made  for  insurance  against  old  age, 
sickness  and  accident? 

A  dictum  of  the  Ohio  Industrial  Commission  throws  an 
interesting  sidelight  upon  the  fundamental  problems  of  a 
board  of  arbitration.     "Exact  industrial  justice  would  not 
take  into  consideration  the  demands  of  the  employees  or  the 
proposals  of  employers,  but  would  be  determined  after  a  full 
investigation  and  inquiry  into  the  cost  of  production,  cost  of 
maintaining  a  satisfactory  standard  of  living,  distribution  of 
profits,  and  all  other  such  matters.''    A  brief  study  of  this 
plan  will  disclose  numerous  practical  difficulties.     What  is  a 
"satisfactory  standard  of  living"?    To  whom   is  it  satis- 
factory?   Does   cost   of   production   include   a   fair  profit? 
And  what  is  *'  fair  profit  "  ?     From  whose  point  of  view  is  it 
fair?    What  would  be  the  proper  "distribution  of  profits"? 
And,  what  of  "all  other  such  matters"?      Since  almost  all 
industrial  disputes  directly  or  indirectly  touch  the  question 
of  wages,  obviously,  the  first  and  foremost  defect  of  arbi- 
tration offers  almost  unsurmountable  obstacles  in  the  present 
state  of  the  science  of  economics.     It  will  certainly  be  diffi- 
cult to  apply  the  much-discussed  "rule  of  reason." 

(2)  The  substitution  of  arbitration  for  the  strike,  boycott 
or  the  trade  agreement  in  the  settlement  of  industrial  dis- 
putes will  tend  to  weaken  organized  labor  or  at  least  greatly 
to  modify  the  form  and  programs  of  such  organizations. 
The  reason  for  this  consequence  is  not  difficult  of  discern- 
ment. Labor  organizations  have  been  formed  to  obtain  by 
means  of  collective  bargaining  or  militant  activities,  higher 
wages,  a  shorter  working  day  or  some  other  improvement  in 
working  conditions.  Unionists  are  loyal  to  the  union  and 
cheerfully  pay  dues  only  when  they  believe  that  the  organ- 


i 


I  t 


III! 


INTENTIONAL  SECOND  EXPOSURE 


296    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

of  organized  labor  on  the  one  hand  and  of  organized  capital 
on  the  other.  It  may,  with  a  reasonable  degree  of  fitness^ 
be  compared  with  the  substitution  of  court  procedure  for  the 
feud  and  the  duel. 

The  defects  of  the  policy  of  arbitration  are  more  difficult 
of  presentation.  More  subtle  considerations  are  involved  and 
the  clashing  of  divergent  interests  and  points  of  view  come 
much  more  clearly  into  the  foreground,  (i)  The  most  serious 
defect  in  a  system  of  compulsory  arbitration  grows  out  of  the 
absence  of  any  definite  and  generally  accepted  standard  for 
the  determination  of  a  wage  rate.  No  theory  of  wages,  now 
formulated,  has  satisfactorily  stood  the  test  of  criticism  and 
of  practical  appHcation  in  the  industrial  world;  and  no  board 
of  arbitration  has  been  able  to  present  a  scientific  standard 
by  means  of  which  disputes  as  to  wage  rates  may  be  authori- 
tatively and  accurately  settled.  Consequently,  boards  of 
arbitration  have  as  a  rule  compromised  in  fixing  wage  scales. 
When  more  than  a  mere  compromise  between  opposing  de- 
mands has  been  attempted,  arbitrators  have  been  influenced 
by  a  knowledge  of  what  has  been  paid  in  the  past  in  the 
industry  under  investigation,  or  what  is  now  being  paid  in 
other  shops  and  localities;  or  they  have  rested  their  decision 
upon  the  basis  of  the  standard  of  living  by  them  considered 
adequate  for  the  wage  workers  concerned.  The  first  al- 
ternative spells  fixity,  and  will  be  further  discussed  under 
the  head  of  the  fourth  defect. 

The  second  method  cannot  be  considered  scientific  so  long 
as  no  definite  concept  of  the  standard  of  Hving  exists.  In 
fixing  railway  rates  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
has  certain  fairly  definite  items  as  points  of  departure,  such 
as  the  actual  investment,  the  depreciation,  market  rates  of 
interest,  the  cost  of  operation.  In  the  determination  of  a 
wage  award,  the  standard  of  living  is  such  an  indefinite  con- 
cept that  difficulties  arise  which  prevent  any  scientific  award. 


i 


METHODS  OF  PROMOTING  INDUSTRIAL  PEACE     297 

Some  of  the  problems  are:  What  is  the  standard  of  living? 
Should  it  gradually  rise  as  the  years  go  by?  Should  an  allow- 
ance be  made  for  the  physical  deterioration  of  the  worker? 
Should  an  allowance  be  made  for  insurance  against  old  age, 
sickness  and  accident? 

A  dictum  of  the  Ohio  Industrial  Commission  throws  an 
interesting  sidelight  upon  the  fundamental  problems  of  a 
board  of  arbitration.     "Exact  industrial  justice  would  not 
take  into  consideration  the  demands  of  the  employees  or  the 
proposals  of  employers,  but  would  be  determined  after  a  full 
investigation  and  inquiry  into  the  cost  of  production,  cost  of 
maintaining  a  satisfactory  standard  of  living,  distribution  of 
profits,  and  all  other  such  matters."     A  brief  study  of  this 
plan  will  disclose  numerous  practical  difficulties.     What  is  a 
"satisfactory  standard  of  living"?    To  whom  is  it  satis- 
factory?   Does   cost   of   production    include   a   fair   profit? 
And  what  is  "  fair  profit  "  ?     From  whose  point  of  view  is  it 
fair?    What  would  be  the  proper  "distribution  of  profits"? 
And,  what  of  "all  other  such  matters"?      Since  almost  all 
industrial  disputes  directly  or  indirectly  touch  the  question 
of  wages,  obviously,  the  first  and  foremost  defect  of  arbi- 
tration offers  almost  unsurmountable  obstacles  in  the  present 
state  of  the  science  of  economics.     It  will  certainly  be  diffi- 
cult to  apply  the  much-discussed  "rule  of  reason." 

(2)  The  substitution  of  arbitration  for  the  strike,  boycott 
or  the  trade  agreement  in  the  settlement  of  industrial  dis- 
putes will  tend  to  weaken  organized  labor  or  at  least  greatly 
to  modify  the  form  and  programs  of  such  organizations. 
The  reason  for  this  consequence  is  not  difficult  of  discern- 
ment. Labor  organizations  have  been  formed  to  obtain  by 
means  of  collective  bargaining  or  militant  activities,  higher 
wages,  a  shorter  working  day  or  some  other  improvement  in 
working  conditions.  Unionists  are  loyal  to  the  union  and 
cheerfully  pay  dues  only  when  they  believe  that  the  organ- 


*! 


5*'' 

m 

7 


298    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

ization  is  a  potent  instrumentality  to  assist  them  in  obtaining 
their  demands.  If  arbitration  becomes  the  accepted  method 
of  determining  the  wage  rate,  the  necessity  for  the  union  be- 
comes less  clear  to  the  average  unionist.    The  resort  to 

y  arbitration  will  not  stimulate  self-reliance  and  self-assertion 
among  the  workers.  Of  course,  from  certain  points  of  view 
this  seems  an  advantage  rather  than  a  defect.  The  editor 
of  a  well-known  labor  journal  questions  whether  arbitration 
"has  been  of  much  practical  value  in  giving  the  workers  those 
opportunities  for  self-assertion"  which  are  "necessary  for 
their  welfare  if  they  are  to  take  an  active  part  in  the  de- 
termination of  what  their  terms  of  employment  and  con- 
ditions of  labor  will  be." 

y  (3)  Arbitration  involves  the  intervention  of  a  third  party. 
The  members  of  a  board  of  arbitration  who  are  supposed 
to  be  neutral  and  to  represent  the  public,  as  a  rule,  are  not 
familiar  with  the  conditions  in  the  industrv.  This  fact  adds 
to  the  difficulties  in  formulating  a  scientific  judgment  which 
will  stand  the  test  of  rigorous  criticism;  and  it  does  not 
inspire  either  side  with  confidence  in  boards  of  arbitration. 
Wage  workers  naturally  hesitate  to  place  the  determination 
of  matters  which  vitally  touch  their  chief  business  in  life  in 
the  hands  of  outsiders  more  or  less  ignorant  of  conditions  in 
the  industry  and  also  of  their  point  of  view. 

(4)  The  procedure  of  a  board  of  arbitration  resembles  that 
of  a  court;  it  is  judicial  in  its  methods.  Therefore,  precedent 
plays  a  large  part  in  the  deliberation  of  a  board  of  arbitration. 
Since  labor  is  struggling  upward  toward  a  higher  standard 
of  living  and  toward  higher  social  standards,  labor  organi- 
zations look  with  suspicion  upon  any  institution  or  method 
of  procedure  in  which  precedent  plays  a  considerable  r61e. 
Precedent  for  wage  workers  spells  slavery,  serfdom  or  low 
standards  of  living  and  social  inferiority.  Laboring  men  and 
women  are  struggling  to  get  out  of  the  "servant"  class. 


METHODS  OF  PROMOTING  INDUSTRIAL  PEACE    299 

They  want  to  be  recognized  as  "equals"  of  their  employers 
and  the  managers  of  the  business  in  which  they  are  earning 
a  Uving.  Wage  workers  are  eagerly  looking  forward  to  the 
day  when  labor  as  well  as  capital  shall  have  a  voice  in  deter- 
mining the  conditions  in  industry,  to  the  time  when  the 
representatives  of  the  employees  shall  be  admitted  to  the 
meetings  of  the  boards  of  directors.  Compulsory  arbitration 
would  seem  to  offer  little  opportimity  to  press  forward  along 
this  line. 

Again,  in  case  no  definite  legal  principles  are  involved, 
the  decisions  of  the  board  depend  in  no  small  measure  upon 
the  training,  interests  and  idiosyncrasies  of  the  judge  or 
umpire.    It  has  been  noted  that  no  fundamental  principles 
which  are  of  general  acceptance  can  be  laid  down  for  the 
guidance  of  boards  of  arbitration.    Consequently,  there  is 
reason  for  the  assertion  made  by  labor  leaders  that  the 
decisions  of  boards  of  arbitration  depend  upon  the  personal 
bias  and  the  preconceived  notions  of  the  arbitrators.     In  the 
event  of  the  adoption  of  compulsory  arbitration  in  this  coun- 
try, the  choice  of  arbitrators  or  of  those  officials  whose  duty 
it  would  be  to  make  such  selection,  would  inevitably  become 
a  political  issue.    And,  further,  political  considerations  would 
become  determining  factors  in  the  rigid  or  the  flabby  enforce- 
ment of  the  law.     (5)  The  decisions  of  a  board  of  arbitration, 
particularly  when  adverse  to  the  workers,  are  difficult  of 
enforcement.     It  might  involve  the  necessity  of  penalizing 
large  numbers  of  citizens.     (6)  Except  in  a  few  basic  or 
quasi-public    industries,    a    law   providing    for    compulsory 
arbitration  would  probably  be  held  unconstitutional. 

An  incidental  weakness  or  defect  of  arbitration  is  due  to  the 
lack  of  a  consistent  policy  for  or  against  it  on  the  part  of  both 
employers  and  wage  workers.  Neither  employers  or  em- 
ployees at  all  times  and  under  all  circumstances  take  the  same 
attitude  toward  arbitration.    In  some  cases,  unionists,  de- 


. 


• 


i 


I 


I 


IP 


300    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

mand  arbitration;  again,  they  reject  such  proposals.  Like- 
wise, employers  sometimes  favor  arbitration;  and  again  they 
contemptuously  reject  it.  Employers  usually  stand  for  arbi- 
tration in  industries  when  the  unions  are  strong  as  in  the 
railway  industry.  But  in  other  industries  where  organized 
labor  is  weak  or  has  been  eliminated,  the  employers  insist 
upon  their  right  to  run  their  business  without  interference. 

The  United  States  Steel  Corporation  has  not  attracted 
much  attention  as  an  advocate  of  voluntary  or  compulsory 
arbitration  in  its  own  plants;  and  the  copper  companies  of 
Northern  Michigan  are  not  well-known  friends  of  these 
measures.  Less  than  a  decade  ago,  the  President  of  a  New 
York  City  street  railway  company  sternly  informed  the  em- 
ployees of  the  company  that  they  were  his  servants  and 
that  he  expected  them  to  do  his  bidding.  "Arbitration 
between  my  servants  and  me  is  impossible."  How  different 
was  the  attitude  of  the  steam  railway  presidents  in  1916! 
On  the  other  hand,  the  anthracite  coal  miners  in  1902  were 
quite  willing  to  arbitrate  their  differences  with  the  operators; 
but,  in  1916,  the  railway  brotherhoods  rejected  arbitration. 
The  progress  of  compulsory  arbitration  in  Australasia  in 
recent  years  is  partially  due  to  "demand  of  employers  for 
protection  against  more  powerful  unions."  ^  But  the  first 
law  passed  in  New  Zealand  in  1894  was  favored  by  the 
union  men  of  the  island  and  opposed  by  the  employers.^ 

Trade  Agreements.  Trade  agreements  as  to  wages,  hours, 
and  other  conditions  of  employment  are  made  in  conferences 
attended  by  representatives  of  both  employers  and  employees. 
The  system  presupposes  the  existence  of  some  form  of  labor 
organization  among  the  employees  and  an  organization  among 
employers.    Individual  bargaining  is  now  replaced  by  whole- 

*  Commons  and  Andrews,  Prinuphs  of  Labor  Legislation^  p.  143. 

*  The  foregoing  paragraphs  are  from  an  article  by  the  writer,  The  AnnalSf 
January,  191 7,  Vol.  69. 


METHODS  OF  PROMOTING  INDUSTRL\L  PEACE    301 

sale   or   collective   bargaining.     Instead    of   many    separate 
agreements  made  between  the  employer  and  each  workman, 
a  single  agreement  is  made  which  fixes  during  the  life  of  the 
compact  the  conditions  of  employment  for  all  workers  in  the 
establishment,  or  at  least  all  within  a  given  grade  or  class. 
The  adoption  of  the  trade  agreement  system  does  not  mean 
that  the  employer  and  employees  have  accepted  any  idealistic 
theory  of  the  harmony  of  interests  between  labor  and  capital. 
A  peaceful  method  of  settling  disputes  as  to  wages,  hours,  and 
the  like  has  been  substituted  for  industrial  warfare.     A  joint 
conference  where  the  representatives  of  both  parties  bluff, 
higgle,  and  compromise  takes  the  place  of  the  strike  and  the 
boycott.    Workmen  are  still  anxious  to  increase  their  wages, 
and  employers  are  eager  to  prevent  such  increases,  but  both 
are  desirous  of  bringing  about  stable  and  calculable  conditions 
in  the  business.     Both  sides  are  trying  to  gain  an  advantage. 
Each  side  understands  the  situation;  but  a  cessation  of  work 
means  no  wages  and  usually  no  profits.    Self-interest  is  a  har- 
monizing as  well  as  an  antagonizing  force.     The  trade  agree- 
ment has  been  called  a  treaty  of  peace  which  precludes  an 
industrial  war  for  a  definite  period. 

The  first  recorded  case  of  a  successful  trade  agreement 
system  is  found  in  England  in  i860.  It  was  established  by 
A.  J.  Mundella,  a  manufacturer  of  Nottingham.^  In  America 
several  isolated  and  local  cases  of  trade  agreements  appear 
before  1885;  but  the  important  trade  agreement  systems  have 
originated  since  that  date.  Trade  agreements  are  now  made 
in  many  industries  and  localities  of  the  United  States.  In 
England,  the  system  is  highly  developed.  In  actual  practice 
there  are  two  somewhat  different  types  of  agreement  systems. 
I.  The  familiar  trade  agreement  system  in  which  collective 
bargaining  and  settlement  of  disputes  are  arranged  for  be- 
tween employers  and   employees  organized  into  a  national 

*  Adams  and  Sumner,  Labor  Problems,  p.  303. 


r 


I; 


J 


302    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

union,  —  as,  for  example,  in  coal  mining,  the  stove  in- 
dustry, and  the  clothing  industry.  2.  The  organization  of 
company  unions  of  some  kind,  and  provision  for  the  settle- 
ment of  grievances  through  shop  committees.  These  com- 
mittees have  much  or  little  power  according  to  the  scheme 
adopted  by  the  firm.  The  Whitley  plan  seems  to  come  under 
the  second  class;  and  the  Rockefeller,  International  Harves- 
ter, and  Goodyear  plans  are  typical  American  examples  of 
the  same  type.  The  second  form  shades  from  quite  formal 
schemes  into  very  informal  plans  for  giving  the  worker  a 
knowledge  of  the  business  end  of  the  plant  and  for  fostering 
more  direct  contact  between  management  and  men,  such  as 
the  Browning  plan,  or  that  of  the  White  Motor  Company. 

The  shop  committee  system  of  the  second  type  grows  out 
of  a  feeling  that  the  union  of  orthodox  variety  is  inevitably 
against  efficiency,  that  the  restrictive  rules  of  unions  make  im- 
possible efficient  production.  Consequently,  the  only  course 
open  now  that  the  old  "drive"  system  of  shop  manage- 
ment has  definitely  proven  to  be  a  failure  is  to  develop 
gradually  a  new  plan  of  labor  organization.  Many  of  the 
employers  adopting  the  shop  committee  plan  know  that  the 
system  will  inevitably  lead  to  a  weakening  of  the  control  of 
the  capitalist  or  investor  in  the  management  of  business; 
but  they  believe  this  is  coming  and  propose  to  aid  in  making 
the  change  come  slowly  and  without  serious  industrial  dis- 
turbances. Soon  after  the  United  States  entered  into  the 
Great  War,  Mr.  Charles  Schwab  warned  American  business 
men  to  prepare  for  the  time,  which  he  asserted  was  not  dis- 
tant, when  labor  would  control  industry. 

Organized  labor  is  suspicious  of,  or  openly  antagonistic 
to,  the  shop  committee  plan.  According  to  Mr.  Gompers, 
"labor's  future  must  be  worked  out  for  labor,  through  its 
own  trade  union  organizations,  directed  by  labor,  without 
the  patronage  of  employers  or  so-called  industrial  experts." 


METHODS  OF  PROMOTING  INDUSTRIAL  PEACE    303 

In  short,  the  leaders  of  organized  labor  see  only  one  path 
leading   toward   better   working   conditions   and   industrial 
democracy  —  the  path  mapped  out  by  the  national  unions. 
Primarily  the  shop  committee  is  a  plan  of  obtaining  co- 
operation between  the  employer  and  the  employees  of  a  given 
plant;   it  is  concerned  chiefly  with  local  problems.     But  the 
shop  committee  is  based  on  the  principle  of  cooperation  while 
up  to  date  too  many  unions  are  rooted  in  the  principle  of 
conflict.^    If  the  spirit  of  unionism  were  always  that  of  part- 
nership,  as  suggested   by  Professor   Commons  and  as  ap- 
parently manifested  in  the  clothing  industry  and  a  few  other 
industries,  reasonable  employers  would  be  able  to  wotk  out 
a  plan  of  industrial  peace  with  the  unions  of  today.      But 
if  the  unions  cling  too  firmly  to  the  old  fighting  programs  of 
restriction  of  output,  etc.,  then  in  the  interest  of  efficiency 
of  production  there  will  be  demanded  the  newer  style  of 
company  unions  or  shop  committees,  not  at  present  connected 
with  outside  affiliations.     Perhaps,  one  type  may  prevail  in 
certain  industries  and  another  type  in  other  industries. 

Trade  Agreements  with  Organized  Labor.  Among  the  most 
significant  and  important  of  this  type  of  trade  agreements  are 
those  in  coal  mining,  in  the  clothing  industry,  and  in  the 
printing  business.  A  large  percentage  of  the  soft  coal  miners 
of  the  United  States  work  under  a  joint  conference  agreement 
as  to  wages  and  other  conditions  of  employment.  An  annual 
joint  conference,  attended  by  the  representatives  of  labor  and 
capital,  is  held.  The  original  plan  involved  sending  a  large 
number  of  delegates  to  the  conference.  At  one  conference 
in  the  Central  Competitive  Field  in  which  were  represented 
Western  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois,  195  oper- 
ators and  450  miners  appeared  as  delegates.  Beginning  with 
191 2,  the  number  of  delegates  was  reduced,  and  an  equal  num- 
ber of  operators  and  miners  appeared  from  each  state.    The 

»  See  Stoddard,  The  Shop  Committee. 


jl!'   < 


I' 


304    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

real  work  of  compromise  and  of  the  determination  of  the  wage 
scale  is  done  by  a  small  committee,  but  a  unanimous  vote  of 
the  conference  is  necessary  before  any  important  matter  can 
be  settled.  An  agreement  is  usually  reached,  because  both 
sides  are  well  aware  of  the  momentous  and  far-reaching  re- 
sults of  a  failure  to  arrive  at  a  settlement  of  differences.  No 
provision  is  made  for  reference  of  controverted  points  to  out- 
side parties.  The  representatives  of  the  miners  sit  on  one 
side  of  the  house  and  those  of  the  mine  owners  on  the  other. 
The  meetings  are  usually  open  to  the  public.  "This  annual 
interstate  conference  of  the  bituminous  coal  industry  is  the 
most  picturesque  and  inspiring  event  in  the  modern  world  of 
business."     It  is  an  industrial  parliament  on  a  grand  scale. 

The  acme  of  the  trade  agreement  system  and  collective 
bargaining  has  been  reached  in  the  stove  industry.  Certain 
peculiarities  of  the  stove  business  have  made  the  desirability 
of  some  form  of  collective  bargaining  very  apparent.  In  the 
stove  industry,  the  cost  of  labor  is  one  of  the  most  important 
items  in  the  total  expenses  of  production.  The  wages  paid 
to  molders  amount  to  from  40  to  50  per  cent  of  the  entire 
manufacturer's  cost  of  the  product.  This  condition  tends 
to  intensify  the  effect  of  differences  between  employers  and 
employees  as  to  wages,  output,  apprentices,  etc.  And,  in  this 
industry,  the  costs  may  be  easily  estimated. 

From  the  time  of  the  first  recorded  strike  in  1855  to  the 
meeting  of  the  first  joint  conference  in  1891,  many  strikes 
occurred  in  this  industry.  Gradually  a  strong  union  organi- 
zation was  evolved.  Its  growth  was  paralleled  by  the  develop- 
ment of  an  association  among  the  employers.  These  two 
organizations  are  known  as  the  Iron  Molders'  Union  of 
America  and  the  Stove  Founders'  National  Defense  Associa- 
tion, respectively.  An  important  strike  involving  many 
cities   and   establishments   occurred   in    1887,    Both    sides 


METHODS  OF  PROMOTING  INDUSTRIAL  PEACE    305 

claimed  to  have  gained  a  victory;  but  each  learned  to  fear  the 
strength  of  the  other  side.  Soon  after,  negotiations  were 
entered  into  which  led  to  the  establishment  of  a  successful 
joint  conference  system,  and  to  the  systematic  and  peaceful 
settlement  of  controverted  questions.  The  development  of 
two  strong,  opposing,  fighting  organizations  made  for  peace. 
The  joint  conference  is  only  successful  when  the  two  oppos- 
ing forces  are  strong,  well  organized,  and  nearly  evenly 
balanced. 

The  first  conference,  held  in  1891,  adopted  the  following 
significant  preamble.  "Whereas,  there  has  heretofore  ex- 
isted a  sentiment  that  the  members  of  the  Stove  Founders' 
National  Defense  Association  and  the  members  of  the  Iron 
Molders'  Union  of  North  America  were  necessarily  enemies, 
and  in  consequence  a  mutual  dislike  and  distrust  of  each 
other  and  of  their  respective  organizations  has  arisen,  provok- 
ing and  stimulating  strife  and  ill-will,  resulting  in  severe  pecu- 
niary loss  to  both  parties:  Now,  this  conference  is  held  for 
the  purpose  of  cultivating  a  more  intimate  knowledge  of  each 
other  and  of  their  methods,  aims,  and  objects,  believing  that 
thereby  friendly  regard  and  respect  may  be  engendered,  and 
such  agreements  reached  as  will  dispel  all  inimical  sentiments, 
prevent  further  strife,  and  promote  the  material  and  moral 
interests  of  all  parties  concerned." 

The  conference  agreement  between  the  employers  and  the 
molders  in  the  stove  industry  provides  for  annual  conferences 
to  be  attended  by  representatives  of  employers  and  of  em- 
ployees. These  joint  conferences  are  purely  legislative  in 
character;  but  the  representatives  of  both  sides  come  with 
full  power  to  act  upon  wages  and  conditions  of  labor  within 
the  industry.  In  order  satisfactorily  to  settle  disputes,  the 
following  mechanism  is  provided.  "Whenever  there  is  a  dis- 
pute between  a  member  of  the  S.  F.  N.  D.  A.  and  the  molders 


II 


li 


it  : 

II' 


V  ■' 

m    } 


5' 


!l^ 


I 


306    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

in  his  employ  (when  a  majority  of  the  latter  are  members  of 
the  I.  M.  U.) ,  and  it  cannot  be  settled  amicably  between  them, 
it  shall  be  referred  to  the  presidents  of  the  two  associations 
before  named,  who  shall  themselves  or  by  delegates  give  it 
due  consideration.  If  they  cannot  decide  it  satisfactorily 
to  themselves,  they  may,  by  mutual  agreement,  summon  the 
conference  committee,  to  whom  decision  by  a  majority  vote 
shall  be  final,  and  binding  upon  each  party  for  the  term  of 
twelve  months.  Pending  adjudication  by  the  presidents  and 
conference  committee,  neither  party  to  the  dispute  shall 
discontinue  operations,  but  shall  proceed  with  business  in  the 
ordinary  manner.  .  .  .  No  vote  shall  be  taken  except  by  a 
full  committee  or  by  an  even  number  of  each  party."  ^  The 
significant  points  are:  (i)  this  method  shall  only  be  used  where 
the  majority  of  the  employees  of  a  member  of  the  Defense 
Association  are  unionists;  (2)  strikes  or  lockouts  are  forbidden 
while  the  matter  is  under  consideration  by  the  presidents  or 
the  committee;  and  (3)  the  conference  committee,  which  is 
essentially  a  board  of  arbitration,  is  composed  of  an  equal 
number  of  employers  and  employees.  The  employers  stren- 
uously objected  to  the  use  of  outside  parties  who  were  un- 
familiar with  the  business;  and  experience  "has  indicated 
that  their  [employers']  judgment  was  sound  and  practical.'' 
In  case  a  member  of  the  Defense  Association  refuses  to  live  up 
to  the  agreement  he  will  be  dropped  from  membership,  and 
the  union  will  be  at  liberty  to  order  a  strike.  If  a  local  union 
refuses  to  abide  by  the  contract,  it  will  be  disciplined  by  the 
national  organization. 

The  methods  employed  in  the  stove  industry  seem  to  be 
the  culmination  of  purely  trade-union  action.  Prices  of 
stoves  and  wages  of  employees  are  fixed  by  means  of  the  joint 
conference  system.     Competition  as  to  prices  and  wages  is 

'  Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor.    No.  62:  148. 


METHODS  OF  PROMOTING  INDUSTRIAL  PEACE    307 

avoided.     Instead  of  appearing  under   the   form  of  price- 
cutting   and   wage-slashing,    competition   must   under   this 
system  be  raised  to  a  higher  plane;   it  takes  the  form  of  an 
attempt  to  produce  better  quaUty  of  goods  and  to  improve 
the  efficiency  of  labor.     Wages  are  determined  in  this  indus- 
try after  a  careful  statistical  study  of  the  cost  of  Hving  and 
the  aim  is  to  place  all  members  of  the  Stove  Defense  Associa- 
tion on  a  competitive  level  in  regard  to  labor.     A  joint  con- 
ference system  carried  on  successfully  for  several  years  tends 
to  remove  the  speculative  element  from  the  business,  and  to 
promote  stability  and  system  within  the  industry.    But  each 
individual  firm  in  the  association  must  maintain  itself;    the 
weak  members  are  not  kept  in  the  business  as  is  the  case  in 
the  trust  form  of  organization. 

^   A  nation-wide  agreement  system  in  the  printing  trades  is 
m  a  formative  stage.     The  legislative  machinery  has  been 
created.    The   International   Joint    Conference    Council   of 
the  Allied   Printing  Trades  represents  the  employers  and 
organized  employees  in  approximately  three-fourths  of  the 
book,  periodical  and  job  printing  business  of  this  country 
The  representation  in  the  Conference  (February,  1920)  was 
as  follows: -United  Typothetae  of  America,  Closed  Shop 
Branch,  Printers'  League  of  America,  and  the  International 
Association  of  Employing  Stereotypers  and  Electrotypers' 
and  the  International  Typographical  Union,   International 
Prmting    Pressmen    and    Assistants'    Union,    International 
Brotherhood  of  Bookbihders,  and  International  Stereotypers 
and  Electrotypers  Union.    Other  organizations  may  be  ad- 
mitted.   Among  the  principles  accepted  as  the  basis  of  this 
trade  agreement  plan  are  the  foUowing:  —  (i)  The  industry 
is  to  pay  at  least  a  reasonable  living  wage.     (2)  Local  con- 
tracts are. to  run  preferably  for  a  period  of  three  years  and 
are  to  contain  a  clause  providing  for  an  annual  adjustment  of 


I 


,» 


Ill 


W.'-  \ 


hi 


308    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

wages  to  the  cost  of  living.  (3)  A  uniform  system  of  cost 
accounting  is  to  be  adopted  by  the  employers  affiliated  in 
the  Conference.  This  is  ''considered  fundamental  to  insure 
stability,  permanence,  and  prosperity  to  the  industry  and  to 
provide  a  basis  for  securing  a  greater  degree  of  uniformity 
in  conditions  throughout  the  country."  (4)  All  controversies 
as  to  wages,  hours  and  working  conditions  are  to  be  settled 
by  conciliation  or  voluntary  arbitration.  The  boards  of 
arbitration  are  to  be  composed  of  equal  representation  of 
employers  and  employees.  If  necessary,  an  impartial  arbi- 
trator may  be  utilized.  A  forty-four  hour  week  has  been 
agreed  upon  to  take  effect  May  i,  1921.^ 

The  clothing  industry  is  subject  to  great  irregularity  in 
employment;  and  working  conditions  in  the  past  have  been 
extremely  bad.  Within  the  last  decade  a  very  elaborate 
trade  agreement  system  has  been  formulated  in  a  considerable 
percentage  of  the  large  clothing  factories.  The  "protocol" 
agreement  adopted  in  19 10  between  a  group  of  cloak,  suit 
and  skirt  manufacturers  of  New  York  and  certain  unions  in 
the  clothing  trades  was  the  forerunner  of  the  present  elaborate 
agreements  made  with  the  Amalgamated  Clothing  Workers. 
The  protocol  agreement  provided  for  a  "preferential"  shop 
in  which  union  conditions  were  to  be  maintained  and  union 
men  were  to  be  given  preference  in  hiring.  Provisions  were 
made  for  settling  all  grievances  by  means  of  a  joint  board 
of  grievances  and  a  board  of  arbitration.  A  joint  board  of 
sanitary  control  was  also  established  for  the  purpose  of  fixing 
standards  of  sanitation  in  the  shops.  Provisions  were  in- 
serted for  disciplining  contractors  or  employees  who  violated 
the  terms  of  the  agreement.  The  protocol  was  adopted  after 
a  strike  in  1910  and  was  followed  for  over  five  years.  A 
modified  protocol  was  adopted  in  the  dress  and  waist  industry 

*  The  Survey,  February  21,  1920. 


nil 


METHODS  OF  PROMOTING  INDUSTRIAL  PEACE    309 

in  1913.  The  trades  engaged  in  the  women's  clothing  in- 
dustry are  nearly  all  working  under  some  trade  agreement 
system  between  employers  and  the  unions.^ 

In  the  men's  garment  industry,  the  pioneer  and  most  noted 
agreement  is  that  of  Hart,  SchafTner  and  Marx.  The  plan 
was  originally  adopted  in  1910  and  has  been  renewed  from 
time  to  time  since  that  date.  It  was  first  made  with  the 
United  Garment  Workers;  but  is  now  made  with  the  Amal- 
gamated Clothing  Workers.  The  company  "accepted  the 
principle  that  the  good-will  of  the  employees  was  as  necessary 
and  desirable  as  the  goodwill  of  customers."  A  labor  de- 
partment was  established  and  all  the  relations  of  employer 
to  employee  were  placed  in  charge  of  this  new  department. 
"The  rule  of  caprice"  in  the  matter  of  discharge  was  dis- 
carded and  the  right  of  arbitrary  action  was  taken  from  the 
foremen.  An  agreement  was  entered  into  with  the  Clothing 
Workers  which  provided  for  a  definite  and  orderly  consider- 
ation of  grievances,  for  the  elimination  of  strikes,  and  for 
the  preferential  shop. 

When  a  grievance  arises  on  the  floor  of  a  shop,  the  com- 
plainant reports  the  matter  to  the  representative  in  his 
section.  The  representative  takes  the  matter  up  with  the 
shop  superintendent.  If  the  matter  is  not  satisfactorily 
settled,  it  is  reported  to  a  shop  deputy.  Both  employer 
and  employees  have  deputies.  These  deputies  have  the 
power  to  make  investigations.  A  pair  of  deputies  visit  the 
shop  in  order  to  adjust  the  difficulty.  If  the  deputies  cannot 
reach  a  satisfactory  agreement,  the  dispute  is  taken  to  the 
Trade  Board.  The  Trade  Board  consists  of  eleven  members, 
all  of  whom  except  the  chairman  must  be  employed  by  Hart, 

1  Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  No.  98;  Cohen,  The  Annals  of 
American  Academy,  January,  191 7;  Cohen,  Law  and  Order  in  Industry^ 
Gompers,  American  Federationist,  March,  1913. 


11 


If 


It ' 


J 

it  ' 


f^ffm 


310    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

Schaffner  and  Marx.  Five  are  selected  by  the  company 
and  five  by  the  union.  The  chairman  is  chosen  by  the  Board 
of  Arbitration.  The  Trade  Board  is  the  primary  board  for 
the  adjustment  of  grievances.  Decisions  are  by  a  majority 
and  are  to  be  made  in  writing.  Appeal  may  be  had  to  the 
Board  of  Arbitration  whose  decisions  shall  be  final  and  bind- 
ing on  both  parties.  The  Board  of  Arbitration  consists  of 
three  members,  —  one  representing  each  party,  and  an 
impartial  chairman  chosen  by  agreement.  An  agreement 
entered  into  between  the  New  York  Clothing  Trades  Asso- 
ciation and  the  Amalgamated  Clothing  Workers,  effective 
from  August,  1919,  to  August,  1920,  is  quite  similar.  The 
next  logical  step  is  to  make  an  agreement  covering  all  of  the 
big  clothing  manufacturers  employing  workers  belonging  to 
the  Amalgamated  Clothing  Workers.^ 

The  trade  agreement  system  is  a  within-the-family  scheme. 
It  has  worked  well  in  certain  competitive  industries.  Testi- 
mony before  the  Federal  Commission  on  Industrial  Relations 
indicated  that  the  trade  agreement  system  has  operated  suc- 
cessfully in  the  stove  industry  because  it  was  in  reality  a 
combination  of  employer  and  employee.  The  union  agreed 
to  force  up  wages  in  the  shops  outside  the  Stove  Founders' 
Defence  Association  in  order  that  disastrous  competition 
might  not  prevail.  If  the  union  failed,  wages  would  neces- 
sarily be  lowered  to  meet  the  outside  competition.  One 
important  function  of  the  trade  agreement  system  in  coal 
mining  is  the  equalization  of  competitive  conditions.  In  the 
glass  bottle  industry,  trade  agreements  have  been  used  for 
many  years.  The  manufacturers  are  said  to  favor  the  system 
partly  because  "this  system  of  collective  bargaining,  by 
maintaining  uniform  wage  scales  and  working  rules  through- 

*  The  Hart,  Schaffner  and  Marx  Labor  Agreement  (pamphlet);  Moses,  The 
Annals  of  the  American  Academy,  September,  1919,  pp.  i66  fif. 


METHODS  OF  PROMOTING  INDUSTRIAL  PEACE    311 

out  the  whole  of  the  industry  has  eliminated  the  objection- 
able inequalities,  as  between  different  employers,  that  are 
an  inevitable  accompaniment  of  a  decentralized  system  of 
collective  bargaining."  ^ 

The  Shop  Committee  Plan.  Many  progressive  business 
managers  have  come  to  understand  that  the  key  to  indus- 
trial efficiency  is  to  be  found  in  the  science  and  art  of  handling 
men,  of  getting  "  men  to  work  together  effectively."  Workers 
who  are  interested  in  their  work,  who  feel  that  they  are  an 
integral  part  of  a  worth-while  business  organization,  and 
who  have  a  voice  in  the  determination  of  production  methods 
which  vitally  affect  them  and  their  families,  are  almost  in- 
variably not  found  in  the  ranks  of  the  ultra-radicals  or  in  the 
class  of  the  drifters.  The  shop  committee  plan  is  an  attempt 
to  bring  about  a  new  deal  in  industry  without  definite  recog- 
nition of  existing  national  unions.-  It  is  collective  bargaining 
with  representatives  chosen  by  and  from  the  employees  of 
the  company. 

The  famous  Whitley  plan,  drawn  up  by  a  committee  of 
the  British  Parliament  and  used  in  a  considerable  number  of 
British  industries,  is  of  this  type.  The  Whitley  plan  provides 
for  national  joint  industrial  councils  in  different  trades,  also 
for  district  and  works  committees.  In  each  case,  the  council 
or  committee  is  to  be  composed  of  an  equal  number  of  repre- 
sentatives of  the  employers  and  of  the  employees  with  an 
impartial  chairman.^  The  Colorado  Industrial  Plan,  adopted 
by  the  Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron  Company  and  by  other  Rocke- 
feller interests,  is  quite  similar  to  the  Whitley  plan.  Repre- 
sentatives chosen  by  secret  ballot  from  their  number  by  the 
employees  of  each  plant,  form  the  basis  of  the  scheme.  Joint 
committees  composed  of  these  representatives  and  an  equal 

*  Wolman,  American  Economic  Review ^  September,  1916. 

*  Bulletin  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  No.  234. 


f  I* 


E'  Hi 


i 


i'i 


if 


t 


r^ 


M^fll   ' 


312    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

number  of  officers  of  the  company  are  organized  in  each 
plant.     "These  committees  deal  with  all  matters  pertaining 
to  employment  and  working  conditions,  including  questions 
of  cooperation  and  conciliation,  safety  and  accident,  sanita- 
tion, housing  and  health,  recreation  and  education."    Joint 
district  conferences  are  provided  for  and  a  joint  conference 
of  representatives  from  all  districts  is  to  be  held  annually. 
Provision  is  made  for  settlement  of  grievances.    Any  worker 
may  take  up  a  grievance  with  his  representative.     Unless  it 
can  be  settled  in  some  intervening  step,  the  matter  may  be 
carried  to  the  highest  officers  of  the  company  and,  finally, 
to  State  officials,   or  to  an  arbitration  committee.^      This 
plan  affords  an  orderly  way  for  the  consideration  of  shop 
matters  and  a  definite  method  of  bringing  grievances  to  the 
attention  of  the  responsible  heads  of  the  company. 

The  Industrial  Representation  Plan  of  the  Goodyear 
Tire  and  Rubber  Company  is  a  further  step  in  the  direction 
of  placing  responsibility  in  the  hands  of  the  workers.  In 
addition  to  the  shop  committee  plan,  the  company  has  an 
elaborate  welfare  sheme  and  a  big  educational  department. 
All  executive  power  is  vested  in  the  management;  but  con- 
siderable legislative  powers  appear  to  be  vested  in  an  In- 
dustrial Assembly  composed  of  a  Senate  and  a  House  of 
Representatives.  The  membership  of  these  two  bodies  is 
made  up  entirely  of  employees  elected  by  secret  ballot.  The 
Senate  is  composed  of  twenty,  and  the  House  of  forty  mem- 
bers. In  order  to  be  a  senator  an  employee  must  be  at  least 
twenty-five  years  of  age  and  on  the  pay-roll  for  at  least  five 
years.  The  qualifications  for  membership  in  the  lower  house 
are  less  exacting.  Every  bill  passed  by  the  two  houses  must 
be  presented  to  the  manager  for  his  signature  before  it  be- 

*  John  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr.,  Representation  in  Industry  (pamphlet).    Also, 
The  Colorado  Industrial  Plan  (pamphlet). 


METHODS  OF  PROMOTING  INDUSTRIAL  PEACE    313 

comes  a  factory  rule.  A  vetoed  bill  may  be  passed  over  the 
head  of  the  manager  by  a  two-thirds  vote  in  each  house.  It 
then^becomes  a  factory  rule.  The  company  guarantees  that 
there  shall  be  no  discrimination  against  any  member  of  the  two 
houses,  or  because  of  membership  in  any  labor  organization. 

Two    very    interesting    and    significant    experiments    are 
being  made  by  the  White  Motor  Company  and  The  Brown- 
ing Company  of  Cleveland.    In  each  case  the  shop  com- 
mittee of  an  informal  type  is  used,  and  a  high  type  of  shop 
morale  is  the  result.     The  Browning  plan  is  the  creation  of 
Sheldon  Cary,  the  president  of  The  Browning  Company. 
Mr.  Cary  is  a  broad-minded  and  capable  man,  a  thinker, 
and  a  doer.    The  tangible  part  of  the  plan  consists  of  two 
features  —  profit-sharing  and  a  committee  system.     Profits 
are  shared  every  three  months,  and  the  percentage  allowed 
a  worker  increases  with  the  length  of  service.     The  shop  com- 
mittee consists  of  two  representatives  elected  from  each  de- 
partment of  the  plant.     Mr.    Cary   meets   the   committee 
informally  twice  a  month.     Matters  relating  to  production 
methods  and  other  topics  of  interest  are  freely  discussed; 
suggestions  are  welcomed.     No  voting  occurs.     The  minutes 
of  the  meetings  are  posted  on  bulletin  boards  in  the  factory. 
The  company's  balance  sheet  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
committee  for  its  consideration.     Mr.  Cary  "places  all  his 
cards  on  the  table";  and  he  has  gained  the  confidence  of  the 
employees  of  the  company.     They  believe  in  him. 

The  Browning  Company  operates  a  comparatively  small 
plant  employing  skilled  men.  Mr.  Cary  knows  nearly  all 
of  the  employees.  A  practice  of  rotation  on  the  shop  com- 
mittee prevails  so  that  practically  all  workers  sooner  or 
later  get  a  place  on  the  committee.  It  is  the  personal  or 
intangible  element  which  seems  to  be  most  important  in 
the  Browning  plan.     Certain  definite  convictions  in  regard 


.I* -'I 


m 


w 


f 


f\ 


314    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

to  factory  management  are  being  put  into  practice  with  ex- 
cellent and  encouraging  results  in  efficiency,  loyalty  to  the 
company,  and  low  turnover  of  labor.  The  company  believes: 
"that  labor  bought  at  less  than  the  current  wage  is  an  expen- 
sive purchase,  because  it  means  lack  of  enthusiasm  on  the 
worker's  part;  that  a  man  or  woman  works  best  who  has  a 
financial  interest  above  wages  in  the  success  of  the  business; 
that  team  work  wins  in  baseball,  battles  and  business." 

The  White  Motor  Company  of  Cleveland  employs  ap- 
proximately 6,000  persons;  the  Company  has  adopted  a 
simple  shop  committee  plan  and  an  educational  scheme  which 
has  materially  reduced  the  labor  turnover  and  increased  the 
efficiency  of  the  plant.  The  officials  of  the  White  Company 
insist  that  a  properly  managed  business  will  not  be  troubled 
with  strikes.  It  is,  and  has  been  since  19 15,  the  policy  of  the 
Company  to  refuse  to  water  its  stock  and  to  pay  a  definite 
rate  of  dividend,  to  keep  prices  of  their  product  reasonable, 
and  to  pay  good  wages.  The  Company  discloses  to  the 
workers  the  financial  condition  of  the  firm;  emphasis  is  laid 
upon  building  up  mutual  confidence  between  management 
and  men  by  clear,  accurate,  and  complete  explanations  of  the 
reasons  for  the  adoption  of  the  policies  utilized.  A  careful 
study  of  the  cost  of  living  has  been  made  and  wages  raised  in 
accord  with  the  results  of  this  investigation.  In  191 4,  the 
average  weekly  earnings  of  an  employee  were  $15.03;  in 
1919,  over  $32.00.  The  Company  maintains  an  industrial 
service  department  (usually  called  welfare  work),  a  factory 
library,  a  cooperative  store,  a  kitchen  and  restaurant,  a  com- 
pany magazine,  a  first  aid  hospital,  and  a  benefit  society. 

In  the  production  department,  the  first  place  is  properly 
given  to  industrial  relations.  An  industrial  relations  com- 
mission consisting  of  seven  executives  has  been  organized 
to  develop  the  policy  of  the  Company.    A  shop  committee 


m 


METHODS  OF  PROMOTING  INDUSTRIAL  PEACE    315 

system  is  used.  Each  department  has  a  committee.  The 
members  are  elected  by  secret  ballot,  one  representative 
being  allowed  for  each  ten  employees.  Meetings  are  held  bi- 
weekly on  company  time.  The  meetings  are  open  forums. 
"Questions  pertaining  to  policy,  production,  expansion  and 
any  other  of  the  various  activities  of  the  factory,  are  discussed 
and  graphically  illustrated  by  representatives  of  the  manage- 
ment.'' These  meetings  are  apparently  intended  primarily 
to  be  educational,  to  give  the  workers  intimate  knowledge  of 
the  organization  of  which  they  are  a  part.  The  Company 
pays  a  straight  time  wage  without  profit  sharing,  bonus 
schemes,  or  other  frills.  Good  results  are  obtained  —  low 
labor  turnover,  high  efficiency,  and  a  contented  and  alert 
group  of  employees. 

The  shop  committee  plans  just  outlined  and  many  others 
are  earnest  attempts  to  close  the  gap  between  labor  and 
capital.  The  general  adoption  of  such  plans  and,  what  is 
much  more  important,  an  increasing  tendency  on  the  part  of 
intelligent  and  up-to-date  industrial  leaders  to  study,  calmly 
and  carefully,  the  human  side  of  industry,  will  accomplish 
much  toward  stemming  the  tide  now  flowing  toward  ultra- 
radicalism.  The  originators  of  these  plans  have  not  dis- 
covered a  panacea  for  all  industrial  difficulties,  but  they  are 
sturdy  pioneers  in  the  new  science  of  industrial  management. 
They  are  social  inventors  and  experimenters.  The  time  is 
ripe  for  such  experiments.  The  words  of  John  D.  Rockefeller, 
Jr.,  are  pertinent.  "Never  was  there  such  an  opportunity 
as  exists  today  for  the  industrial  leader  with  clear  vision  and 
broad  sympathy  permanently  to  bridge  the  chasm  that  is 
daily  gaping  wider  between  the  parties  to  industry,  and  to 
establish  a  solid  foundation  for  industrial  prosperity,  social 
improvement,  and  national  solidarity.  Future  generations 
will  rise  up  and  call  those  men  blessed  who  have  the  courage 


I 


PI 


U, 


t* 


316    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

of  their  convictions,  a  proper  appreciation  of  the  value  of 
human  life  as  contrasted  with  material  gain,  and  who,  imbued 
with  the  spirit  of  brotherhood,  will  lay  hold  of  the  great 
opportunity  for  leadership  which  is  open  to  them  today.''  ^ 

Joint  Conferences  as  Parliamentary  Bodies.  Professor  Com- 
mons has  pointed  out  the  resemblance  between  a  parliament 
and  the  trade  agreement  system.  The  English  Parliament 
with  its  House  of  Lords  and  House  of  Commons  has  evolved 
out  of  a  long  struggle  between  different  classes.  The  repre- 
sentatives of  the  employers  correspond  in  the  industrial  con- 
gress or  joint  conference  to  the  members  of  the  upper  house; 
the  union  delegates,  to  the  members  of  the  lower  house. 
Originally,  members  of  parliament  were  the  representatives  of 
property  interests.  Today  interest  representation  in  political 
affairs  is  masked  behind  the  theory  of  geographical  represen- 
tation. In  a  joint  conference,  interest  representation  is  open 
and  unconcealed.  The  agreement  formulated  by  the  con- 
ference is  the  statute  law  of  the  industrial  congress.  Boards 
of  arbitration  to  settle  disputes  over  the  interpretation  of  the 
terms  of  the  agreement  correspond  to  the  judicial  system  in 
governmental  affairs.  No  common  executive  has  yet  been 
evolved.  Jurisdictional  struggles  may  be  compared  to  sec- 
tional and  racial  antagonisms  in  political  affairs.^ 

The  Canadian  Industrial  Disputes  Act.  This,  now  famous, 
act  became  a  law  in  March,  1907.  The  act  is  limited  in  its 
scope  to  public  utilities  and  mines.  Its  provisions  apply  to 
the  steam  and  electric  railways,  power  plants,  electric  and 
gas  plants,  and  similar  utilities,  and  to  metal  and  coal  mines. 
This  law  was  placed  upon  the  statute  books  soon  after  a 
serious  strike  had  occurred  in  the  coal  mines  of  southern 

»  The  immediately  preceding  paragraphs  are  from  an  article  by  the  writer 
in  The  Bay  View  Magazine,  May,  1920,  pp.  457-458. 
*  Commons,  Review  of  Reviews.     Vol.  23:  328-329. 


METHODS  OF  PROMOTING  INDUSTRIAL  PEACE     317 

Alberta.  Like  our  anthracite  strike  of  1902,  this  strike 
threatened  to  cut  off  the  supply  of  fuel.  The  Canadian  law 
does  not  aim  to  replace  collective  bargaining;  its  purpose  is 
to  supplement  that  system  and  make  it  workable.  The  law 
does  not  provide  for  compulsory  arbitration  and  settlement, 
but  depends  primarily  upon  the  pressure  of  a  public  informed 
as  to  the  merits  of  the  controversy,  to  end  industrial  warfare. 
It  is  intended  to  obtain  a  "maximum  of  concession  with  a 
minimum  of  compulsion."  The  right  of  employers  and  of 
employees  to  make  or  to  terminate  a  labor  contract  is  recog- 
nized. The  Canadian  act  clearly  affirms  the  right  of  the 
general  public  to  demand  uninterrupted  service  from  all  quasi- 
public  industries.  The  right  to  investigate  a  labor  dispute 
in  those  industries  and  to  make  public  the  facts  is  given  legal 
support. 

Whenever  a  dispute  arises  between  an  employer  and  his 
employees,  either  party  may  apply  to  the  Minister  of  Labor 
for  the  appointment  of  a  "board  of  conciliation  and  investi- 
gation." This  temporary  board  is  to  be  appointed  by  the 
Minister  of  Labor.  One  man  is  to  be  nominated  by  the 
employers  and  one  by  the  employees.  These  two  men  are  to 
select  the  third  member  of  the  board.  Each  committee  or 
board  is  to  deal  only  with  the  one  specific  dispute  for  which 
it  was  created.  After  its  work  is  done  and  its  report  com- 
pleted, the  board  disbands.  The  board  has  the  power  to 
summon  witnesses  and  to  compel  the  submission  of  pertinent 
material.  The  most  successful  boards  have  adopted  an  in- 
formal method  of  procedure.  Much  of  the  work  is  done  out- 
side the  regular  meetings  of  the  board.  Conciliation  is  the 
chief  end  in  view;  the  aim  is  to  obtain  concessions  until  the 
contending  parties  reach  an  agreement.  While  the  board  is 
considering  the  dispute,  a  strike  or  a  lockout  is  illegal;  and 
persons  responsible  for  ordering  a  strike  or  lockout  at  such 


I 


hi- 


h 


318    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

a  time  may  be  punished.  It  is  questionable  whether  this 
clause  could  be  enforced  in  the  face  of  adverse  public  senti- 
ment. Thirty  days'  notice  is  required  for  any  proposed  change 
in  the  conditions  of  the  industry.  This  provision  allows  time 
for  reference  to  a  board;  but  no  penalty  is  attached  to  the 
violation  of  that  clause. 

If  the  parties  cannot  be  brought  into  agreement,  the  board 
is  authorized  to  make  public  its  findings  and  the  significant 
facts  in  connection  with  the  dispute.  A  strike  or  a  lockout 
may  then  be  lawfully  ordered;  but  the  public  has  definite 
knowledge  of  the  situation.  Public  opinion  is  in  reality  the 
court  of  last  appeal.  This  act  takes  away  from  the  workers 
in  the  industries  within  the  scope  of  the  act  the  right  to  strike 
at  an  auspicious  time.  It  will  often  prevent  the  workers 
from  taking  advantage  of  certain  favorable  opportunities  to 
market  their  product  —  labor.  The  right  to  strike  at  an 
opportune  moment  is  considered  by  organized  labor  to  be 
highly  important.  The  employees  "ask  pertinently  enough 
whether,  assuming  labor  to  be  a  marketable  commodity,  the 
seller  of  any  other  commodity,  like  wheat  or  provisions  or 
coal  or  pig-iron,  would  care  to  accept  prices  prepared  for  him 
some  weeks  after  the  time  he  thought  most  favorable  for 
selling."  The  unions  which  have  adopted  the  trade  agree- 
ment system  have,  however,  voluntarily  given  up  this  right 
to  "hold-up"  their  employers.  This  right  cannot  be  vital  to 
successful  unionism  since  the  soft  coal  miners  and  the  stove 
molders  are  willing  to  agree  not  to  use  it. 

One  of  the  features  which  has  been  criticized  by  the  rep- 
resentatives of  organized  labor  is  the  clause  which  requires 
that  before  a  board  can  be  organized,  the  workers  must  take 
action  which  leads  directly  to  the  initiation  of  an  industrial 
dispute.  They  must  decide  to  strike  before  the  occasion  arises 
which  makes  the  organization  of  a  board  possible.    Many 


METHODS  OF   PROMOTING   INDUSTRIAL   PEACE     319 

labor  organizations  have  endorsed  the  principle  of  the  act, 
although  they  are  not  entirely  satisfied  with  all  the  features 
of  the  law.  "As  a  protective  enactment,"  writes  a  Canadian 
labor  leader,  *4t  is  of  little  value  to  labor.  After  all,  to 
have  any  status  before  the  boards,  labor  must  be  thoroughly 
organized  and  powerful  enough  to  command  attention." 
"The  greatest  value,"  declares  Dr.  Victor  S.  Clark  "of  the 
act  —  and  its  value  is  great  —  lies  in  its  providing  a  negotiat- 
ing rather  than  an  arbitrating  body,  and  in  thus  preventing 
strikes  by  bringing  the  parties  to  a  voluntary  settlement,  and 
not  by  holding  over  them  any  sort  of  a  club  in  the  shape  of  a 
penalty  —  moral  or  otherwise  —  for  striking." 

Unfortunately,  in  several  cases  the  law  has  been  evaded, 
and  unlawful  strikes  and  lockouts  have  taken  place.  In  one 
case  a  group  of  coal  miners  went  on  a  strike  in  defiance  of  the 
act  and  were  not  punished.  In  another  case  a  lockout  was 
ordered,  apparently  in  violation  of  the  provisions  of  the  act, 
and  again  no  punishment  was  meted  out  to  the  offender. 
The  law  requires  that  action  be  brought  by  the  other  party 
to  the  dispute;  in  case  the  other  party  refuses  to  start  what 
may  prove  to  be  expensive  litigation,  the  provisions  of  the  law 
against  strikes  and  lockouts  during  the  course  of  an  investi- 
gation are  not  enforced. 

The  Canadian  Act  has  reduced  the  number  of  labor  dis- 
putes within  a  narrow  industrial  field;  but  in  some  cases  it 
has  postponed  rather  than  prevented  strikes.  The  act 
seems  to  have  operated  chiefly  as  a  voluntary  conciliation 
measure.^  The  problems  connected  with  a  minimum  wage 
scale  and  with  the  sweated  industries  lie  entirely  outside 
the  scope  of  this  piece  of  legislation.  Considerable  opposition 
to  the  act  has  been  manifested  by  organized  labor,  particularly 

*  Selekman,  The  Survey,  March  31,  191 7;  Squires,  Bulletin  of  Bureau  of 
Labor  Statistics,  No.  233  (1918). 


320    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 


METHODS  OF  PROMOTING  INDUSTRIAL  PEACE    321 


!fi 


n 


among  the  miners.  In  191 5,  Colorado  passed  a  law  which 
carries  out  the  principles  of  the  Canadian  Act.  The  Colorado 
Industrial  Commission  is  given  the  power  of  compulsory 
investigation  of  labor  disputes.  Employers  and  employees 
are  obliged  to  give  thirty  days'  notice  of  intended  change 
in  the  conditions  of  employment.  Pending  decisions  as  to 
disputes  under  investigation,  strikes  and  lockouts  are  illegal.^ 
Organized  labor  in  the  United  States  opposes  the  adoption 
of  legislation  of  this  type  because  (i)  it  will  interfere  with  the 
right  to  strike  whenever  the  workers  please;  (2)  it  will  prevent 
in  a  large  measure  the  use  of  the  sympathetic  strike;  and 
(3)  organized  labor  distrusts  governmental  intervention. 

The  Experience  of  New  Zealand  and  Australia.  Two  legal 
methods  have  been  used  in  Australia  for  settling  labor  dis- 
putes —  by  means  of  courts  of  arbitration  and  by  means  of 
wage  boards.  The  former  method  was  first  used,  but  the 
latter  gives  promise  of  greater  usefulness.  The  system  of 
arbitration  was  established  primarily  to  prevent  strikes  and 
to  insure  the  uninterrupted  functioning  of  industrial  plants. 
The  wage  boards  were  intended  to  eradicate  the  sweating  evil. 
In  actual  practice  the  latter  has  proven  to  be  merely  a  modi- 
fied system  of  arbitration.  New  Zealand  was  first  to  put  a 
compulsory  arbitration  act  upon  the  statute  books.  The 
original  law  was  passed  in  1894  and  has  been  modified  several 
times  since  that  date.  The  maritime  strike  of  1890  brought 
the  matter  of  labor  disputes  forcibly  before  the  country.  New 
Zealand's  economic  life  is  dependent  upon  shipping,  and  a 
strike  in  that  industry  paralyzed  the  business  of  the  island. 

The  administration  of  the  compulsory  arbitration  act  of 
New  Zealand  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Minister  of  Labor. 
The  island  is  divided  into  "industrial  districts."  In  each 
district  a  board  or  council  of  conciliation  is  appointed.     Such 

*  Apterican  Labor  Legislation  Reviru^,  December,  1915,  p.  757. 


a  board  consists  of  a  chairman,  one  or  two  representatives  of 
registered  unions,  and  a  like  number  from  registered  employ- 
ers' associations.  Until  1908  the  chairman  was  "some  im- 
partial" person  selected  by  the  other  members  of  the  board. 
Under  the  present  law,  the  chairman,  or  commissioner  of  con- 
ciliation, is  a  permanent  salaried  appointee  of  the  governor. 
One  is  chosen  for  each  district  for  a  term  of  three  years.  The 
court  of  arbitration  has  jurisdiction  over  the  entire  colony, 
and  consists  of  three  members  appointed  by  the  governor. 
One  is  chosen  from  nominations  made  by  registered  trade 
unions,  one  from  nominations  made  by  registered  employers' 
associations;  the  president  of  the  court  is  usually  one  of  the 
judges  of  the  supreme  court  of  the  island.  Unregistered 
organizations  of  wage  earners  have  no  legal  standing;  but  the 
court  may  extend  its  jurisdiction  over  unregistered  employ- 
ers. Fifteen  or  more  employees  may  form  a  union  and  be 
registered  under  the  act.  Either  party  to  the  dispute  may 
bring  the  matter  to  the  attention  of  a  board  of  conciliation 
or  the  court  of  arbitration.  Before  1901  disputes  were  usu- 
ally referred  first  to  a  board  of  conciliation.  This  board 
attempted  to  bring  about  a  settlement  of  the  difficulty.  As 
a  rule,  however,  cases  were  carried  up  to  the  court  of  arbitra- 
tion. Out  of  156  cases  before  the  boards  of  conciliation  in  the 
period  1 896-1 901,  104  cases  were  taken  to  the  court  of  arbi- 
tration. An  amendment  in  1901  made  it  possible  for  either 
party  to  the  dispute  to  carry  the  matter  directly  to  the  court 
of  arbitration.  In  1906  only  two  cases  were  settled  by 
boards.  The  amendment  of  1908  increases  the  importance 
of  the  boards,  now  councils,  of  conciliation;  and  again  requires 
all  cases  to  be  first  presented  to  them.  Speedy  action  is 
provided  for;  and  in  case  the  parties  are  not  brought 
into  agreement,  the  findings  of  the  council,  as  in  Canada, 
are  to  be  made  public.    The  procedure  before  the  court 


Hi 


322    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

of  arbitration  is  divested  of  the  technicalities  of  the  ordi- 
nary court  procedure;  but  it  has  the  usual  powers  of  a 
court.  It  can  compel  the  attendance  of  witnesses,  it  may 
gather  evidence  in  the  places  where  the  work  under  consid- 
eration is  performed,  and  it  may  compel  the  production  of 
books  and  papers. 

The  jurisdiction  of  the  court  extends  to  all  industries,  but 
is  restricted  to  disputes  involving  registered  associations. 
The  original  intent  of  the  law  was  to  encourage  the  formation 
of  unions,  but  the  registration  is  purely  voluntary.  The 
awards  of  the  court  are  not  only  binding  upon  the  parties  con- 
cerned in  the  particular  dispute,  but  may  be  extended  to 
other  persons.  The  award  may  be  extended  to  all  registered 
unions  and  to  all  employers  engaged  in  the  same  industry 
throughout  an  industrial  district  or  throughout  the  island  — 
thus  equalizing  competitive  conditions.  Agreements  entered 
into  through  councils  of  conciliation  and  the  awards  of  the 
court  of  arbitration  are  to  remain  in  force  until  new  agree- 
ments are  concluded  or  new  awards  made,  unless  the  union 
cancels  its  registration.  In  such  an  event  the  life  of  the  award 
is  three  years.  Until  19 14,  strikes  and  lockouts  were  not 
unlawful  unless  an  application  had  been  made  for  the  settle- 
ment of  a  dispute  —  except  in  certain  industries  and  in  certain 
cases  in  which  a  strike  would  tie  up  **  related  industries." 
After  a  series  of  strikes  in  19 13  and  19 14,  all  strikes  were 
prohibited  in  the  case  of  registered  unions.^  In  December, 
19 13,  a  law  was  also  passed  applying  the  principle  of  the 
Canadian  Act  to  unions  and  workers  not  registered  under  the 
arbitration  act.  Penalties  are  imposed  for  illegal  strikes  or 
lockouts.  However,  since  1905,  New  Zealand  has  not  been 
"a  country  without  strikes." 

The  chief  functions  of  the  court  of  arbitration  are  legisla- 

*  Commons  and  Andrews,  Principles  0/  Labor  Legislation,  p.  147. 


METHODS  OF  PROMOTING   INDUSTRIAL   PEACE     323 

tive  rather  than  judicial.     The  original  intent  of  the  law  was 
to  prevent  strikes  and  lockouts;    but  the  courts  have  been 
used  to  fix  the  general  conditions  in  industry.     The  court 
may  fix  minimum  wages,  with  the  right,  under  prescribed 
conditions,  to  pay  less  to  the  aged  and  incompetent;  it  may 
regulate  the  hours  of  labor,   apprenriceship,   the  work  of 
women  and  children,  and  other  conditions  of  employment; 
and,  as  mentioned  above,  it  may  give  preference  to  union 
labor  and  spread  its  award  over  an  entire  industry.    The 
essence  of  this  system  is  to  establish  a  standard  wage  and 
standard  requirements  in  an  industry.     What  is  frequently 
the  direct  result  of  union  acrivity  in  the  United  States  is  in 
New  Zealand  the  result  of  legislative  acts.     The  unions  ot 
New  Zealand  must  inevitably  emphasize  political  activities 
rather  than  purely  economic  activities.    The  arbitration  act 
is  i)nly  part  of  a  system  which  includes  old  age  pensions,  a 
compensation  act  for  injured  workmen,  reform  in  the  taxation 
of  land  values,  and  the  breaking  up  of  large  holdings  of  real 
estate.    The   arbitration   system   alone   does  not  give   the 
workers  an  opportunity  to  share  in  the  profits  of  a  monopolis- 
tic industry.     Wages  are  fixed  in  accordance  with  what  seems 
to  the  court  to  be  the  ruling  wage,  a  fair  wage,  or  a  living  wage. 
The  wage  rate  is  not  contingent  upon  the  profits  of  the  busi- 
ness.    One  judge  has  intimated  that  the  court  has  allowed 
what  it  considered  the  men  might  have  obtained  without  a 
court.     No  scientific  or  systematic  method  of  determining 
wages  has  as  yet  been  worked  out  in  New  Zealand. 

In  1 90 1  New  South  Wales  established  an  arbitration  court 
with  somewhat  more  extensive  authority  than  that  of  New 
Zealand.  The  awards  were  binding  upon  those  who  were 
not  members  of  registered  unions.  "The  basic  principle  of 
the  act,"  declared  the  court  of  arbitration,  "is  continuity  of 
industrial  employment  and  operation  with  a  prohibition  .  .  . 


If 


m 


I 


324    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

of  anything  in  the  nature  of  a  strike  or  a  lockout,  ..."  In 
1908  this  law  was  superseded  by  an  act  providing  for  wage 
boards;  but  in  1912  a  compulsory  arbitration  system  was 
again  established.  Western  Australia  has  a  compulsory 
arbitration  act  similar  to  that  of  New  Zealand.  South 
Australia  and  Queensland  have  also  enacted  compulsory 
arbitration  laws.  The  commonwealth  of  Australia  also 
provided,  in  1904,  for  a  court  of  arbitration  to  deal  with 
industrial  disputes.  In  accord  with  constitutional  limitations 
this  act  only  applies  to  disputes  involving  industries  not 
confined  to  one  state.  Strikes  and  lockouts  are  absolutely 
prohibited  under  penalty  of  one  thousand  pounds.  The 
property  of  a  labor  organization  violating  this  law,  or  if 
necessary  of  its  members  up  to  ten  pounds  each,  may  be 
taken  in  payment  of  the  penalty. 

The  wage  board  as  a  preventive  of  strikes  and  as  a  method 
of  settling  labor  disputes  has  certain  marked  advantages  over 
the  older  method  by  means  of  a  court  of  arbitration.  As  a 
wage  board  is  established  for  each  industry,  fewer  cases  will 
come  before  each  board  than  came  before  the  single  court  of 
arbitration.  Less  delay  is,  therefore,  experienced  in  settling 
disputes.  The  members  of  a  wage  board  usually  have  some 
technical  and  first-hand  knowledge  of  the  industry.  The 
members  of  the  court  of  arbitration  dealing  with  many  indus- 
tries are  necessarily  handicapped  by  their  lack  of  intimate 
acquaintance  with  the  industry  under  consideration.  The 
wage  board  system  originated  in  Victoria  as  a  method  of 
fixing  minimum  wages  in  certain  sweated  industries.  The 
boards  merely  had  authority  to  prevent  an  employer  from 
paying  less  than  a  "living  wage."  Strikes  were  not  prohib- 
ited; employees  were  at  liberty  to  attempt  to  force  the  pay- 
ment of  higher  wages  than  the  minimum  fixed  by  the  board. 
In    New    South  Wales  the  wage  board  system  became  a 


METHODS  OF  PROMOTING  INDUSTRL\L  PEACE    325 

method  of  securing  industrial  peace.  It  has  been  trans- 
formed from  an  anti-sweating  measure  to  a  system  of  rigid 
governmental  control  over  the  conditions  of  employment 
throughout  the  colony. 

Compulsory  arbitration  has  apparently  proven  to  be  a 
desirable  system  in  Australasia.  There  is  little  or  no  indica- 
tion up  to  the  present  time  of  any  recession  in  this  kind  of 
legislation.  The  workingmen  are,  however,  losing  some  of 
their  enthusiasm  for  compulsory  arbitration  in  New  Zealand. 
The  original  New  Zealand  act  was  passed  with  the  aid  of  the 
workers  and  apparently  for  their  benefit.  They  had  failed  in 
a  bitterly  contested  labor  dispute  with  a  powerful  corporation; 
and  they  soon  turned  to  political  activity  in  order  to  gain 
desired  concessions.  The  period  1894  to  1908  was  one 
of  prosperity.  The  early  awards  were  favorable  to  the 
workers;  but  later  awards  did  not  allow  all  of  the'  stead- 
ily increasing  demands  of  the  wage  earners.  The  effect 
of  compulsory  arbitration  was  to  replace,  in  a  measure, 
contract  by  an  increasing  rigidity  of  status.  Finally,  in 
1906  the  workers  began  to  rebel  against  their  own  legis- 
lation and  several  strikes  followed.  The  radicals  who  wish 
to  modify  the  present  industrial  order  will  not,  of  course, 
be  satisfied  with  any  scheme  of  conciliation  and  arbitra- 
tion, the  fundamental  principle  of  which  is  the  acceptance 
of  that  order. 

Granting  that  the  system  has  been  successful  in  these  far- 
away lands,  the  conclusion  that  it  would  also  prove  successful 
in  the  United  States  need  not  necessarily  be  reached.  The 
system  was  introduced  into  Australia  while  the  industrial 
system  "was  simple,  pliable,  and  adaptable";  and  that  coun- 
try has  not  received  a  conglomerate  horde  of  immigrants. 
Industrial  conditions,  legal  and  constitutional  forms,  and  the 
composition  of  the  population  in  the  United  States  are  so 


i^    : 


mi  I 


tm 


li: 


II    . 


m 


326    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

dissimilar  from  those  which  existed  in  Australasia  at  the  time 
the  compulsory  arbitration  system  was  adopted  that  the  value 
of  the  latter's  experience  for  the  guidance  of  our  legislators 
is  minimized.  If  the  decisions  of  a  court  of  arbitration  or  of 
a  wage  board  are  distasteful  to  a  large  body  of  workers,  it 
seems  extremely  doubtful  whether  coercion,  in  a  democracy 
is  feasible  or  desirable.^ 


REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

Mitchell,  Organized  Labor,  pp.  337-396. 

Oilman,  Methods  of  Industrial  Peace. 

Webb,  Industrial  Democracy.     Pt.  i,  Ch.  2. 

Report  of  the  Industrial  Commission.     Vols.  4,  7,  8,  9,  17,  19. 

"Conciliation    and    Arbitration,"    The   Annals.     Vol.    20.     Several 
articles. 

Adams  and  Sumner,  Labor  Problems.     Ch.  8. 

Commons,  "A  New  Way  of  Settling  Labor  Disputes,"  Review  of 
Reviews.     Vol.  23:  328-333. 

Commons,  The  hidependent.     Vol.  56:  1440-1444. 

Hatch,  "Government  Industrial  Arbitration,"  Bulletin  of  the  Bureau 
of  Labor.    No.  60. 

"Report  of  the  Anthracite  Coal  Strike  Commission,"  Bulletin  of  the 
Bureau  of  Labor.     No.  46. 

Frey  and  Commons,    "Conciliation  in  the  Stove  Industry,"  Bulletin 
of  the  Bureau  of  Labor.    No.  62. 

Clark,   "The   Canadian  Industrial   Disputes   Act,"  Bulletin  of  the 
Bureau  of  Labor.    Nos.  76and86. 

Shortt,  ibid.,  American  Economic  Association  Quarterly.    April,  1909. 

Eliot,  ibid. J  McClure^s  Magazine.    December,  1907. 
Fleet,  ibid.y  American  Federationist.    June,  1908. 

*  For  a  description  of  the  wage  boards,  see  Chapter  XIII. 


METHODS  OF  PROMOTING  INDUSTRIAL  PEACE    327 

Edgar,  "Industrial  Disputes  in  Canada,"  Journal  of  Political  Economy , 
Vol.  16:  88-93. 

Bolen,  Getting  a  Living.    Ch.  27. 

Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor.    Nos.  51,  55,  and  56.    Various  trade 
agreements. 

Clark,  The  Labor  Movement  in  Australasia. 

Clark,  "Labor  Conditions  in  Australia  and  New  Zealand,"  Bulletin 
of  the  Bureau  of  Labor.    Nos.  49  and  56. 

Kennady,  "Victorian  Wages  Boards  and  the  New  Zealand  Concilia- 
tion-Arbitration Act,"  Yale  Review.     Vol.  19:  32-54. 

Le  Rossignol  and  Stewart,  "Compulsory  Arbitration  in  New  Zea- 
land," Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics.      Vol.  24:  660-712. 

Hobson,  "Compulsory  Arbitration,"  North  American  Review.    Vol. 
175:  597-606. 

Taussig,   Principles   of  Economics.     Vol.    2:  317-322.     Compulsory 
Arbitration. 

Marot,  American  Labor  Unions.     Ch.  11. 

Barnett  and  McCabe,  Mediation,  Investigation  and  Arbitration  in 
Industrial  Disputes. 

Mote,  Indmtrial  Arbitration. 

Groat,  Introduction  to   the  Study  of   Organized  Labor  in  America. 
Chs.  12,  13  and  18. 

Suffern,  Conciliatian  and  Arbitration  in  the  Coal  Industry. 

Report  of  the  Commission  on  Industrial  Relations.     Especially  the 
portion  signed  by  Professor  Commons. 

Articles  in  Annals  of  the  American  Academy,  January,  191 7,  and 
September,  19 19. 

Bulletins  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.    Nos.  98,  124,  133,  191. 

Marshall,  "The  War  Labor  Program  and  its  Administration,"  Journal 
of  Political  Economy,  May,  1918.    Vol.  26:  425. 

Report  of  the  President's  Industrial  Conference.     (Pamphlet.)     Also 
found  in  The  Survey,  March  27,  1920. 


328    HISTORY   AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

Basset,  When  the  Workers  Help  You  Manage. 

Gantt,  Organizing  Jor  Work. 

Slichter,  The  Turnover  of  Factory  Labor.     Chs.  i6  and  17. 

Stoddard,  The  Shop  Committee. 

Commons,  Industrial  Goodwill.     Chs.  4-17. 

Frank,  The  Politics  of  Industry.     Chs.  4  and  5. 

King,  Industry  and  Humanity.    Chs.  10  and  11. 


I'f  i 


p* 


J!  I 


iii 


:    i 


il 


m 


"I 


jj 


CHAPTER   XI 
PROTECTIVE  LEGISLATION  FOR  EMPLOYEES 

Constitutional  Difficulties  in  the  United  States,  Labor  legis- 
lation in  the  United  States  meets  obstacles  peculiar  to  this 
country.  Our  system  of  written  constitutions  and  our  dual 
form  of  government,  dividing  responsibility  for  action  or 
inaction  between  the  federal  government  and  the  various  state 
governments,  introduce  many  complications.  Constitutional 
objections  and  state  jealousies  bulk  large  in  preventing  the 
passage  of  statutes  protecting  wage  earners,  and  in  emascu- 
lating or  annulling  those  which  are  actually  placed  upon  the 
statute  books.  The  ideals  embedded  in  the  American  consti- 
tutional system  are  essentially  English  in  origin;  but  the 
student  must  not  overlook  the  fact  that  those  ideals  originated 
in  a  unique  epoch  in  the  history  of  English  political  philoso- 
phy. The  federal  constitution  was  formulated  and  adopted 
by  the  American  people  at  a  time  when  the  pendulum  swing  of 
sentiment  had  reached  a  maximum  in  favor  of  non-interference 
on  the  part  of  government  with  the  conditions  of  industry. 

Under  the  gild  system  in  the  medieval  cities,  and  in  the 
developing  nations  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries 
under  the  mercantile  system,  industry  and  trade  had  been 
rigidly  and  minutely  regulated.  In  the  eighteenth  century, 
as  the  old  industrial  forms  broke  down  and  were  replaced  by 
those  which  may  be  called  modern,  the  pressure  against 
mercantilism  became  strong  and  finally  irresistible.  The 
restrictive  barriers  were  pushed  aside,  and  a  new  economic 
epoch  opened.  The  sudden  release  from  the  strong  and 
unyielding  bonds  of  custom  and  law  which  were  characteristic 

329 


i 


33^    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 


r 


fi 


fli 


of  feudalism  and  mercantilism  produced  the  inevitable  reac- 
tion. The  new  slogans  were  non-interference,  freedom  of 
trade  and  of  contract,  and  competition  is  the  life  of  trade. 
Individualism  and  the  "return  to  nature"  were  placed  prom- 
inently in  the  foreground. 

The  individualism  of  the  period  conceived  that  external 
control  of  industrial  affairs  was  not  only  unnecessary  but  an 
actual  menace  to  economic  progress.  Each  and  every  indi- 
vidual was  to  be  left  free  to  work  when  and  where  he  pleased, 
or  to  hire  and  discharge  whomsoever  he  saw  fit.  Wages  and 
prices  should  be  fixed  as  the  result  of  free  and  untrammeled 
competition'.  The  general  welfare  of  society  was  to  be  con- 
served by  allowing  each  individual  to  pursue  unhampered 
what  seemed  to  be  his  own  best  interests.  "Enlightened 
self-interest  was  the  incentive,  universal  free  competition  was 
the  force"  which  held  economic  society  together  and  caused 
progress.  These  individualistic  ideals  sternly  opposed  all 
legislative  interference  with  freedom  of  contract  and  the  labor 
bargain,  and  considered  all  combinations  for  the  purpose  of 
affecting  prices  or  wages  to  be  inimical  to  the  public  welfare. 

But  the  individualism  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  of  the 
first  half  of  the  nineteenth  was  abnormal  and  one-sided.  It 
was  the  product  of  the  conditions  which  made  England  the 
world  leader  in  commerce  and  in  industry.  Earlier  centuries 
were  much  less  individualistic,  and  the  intricacy  and  inter- 
dependence of  modern  life  cause  greater  emphasis  to  be 
placed  upon  social  needs.  This  ultra-individualistic  epoch 
is  the  bridge  between  the  old  era  of  medieval  restriction  of 
the  aristocratic  and  paternalistic  type  which  fixed  maximum 
conditions  for  the  mass  of  the  workers  and  the  era  of  modern 
social  and  industrial  legislation  of  the  democratic  type  which 
aims  at  fixing  minimum  conditions  in  industry.  The  feudal 
idea  was  to  keep  men  and  women  of  the  lower  classes  in  their 
places  and  to  ameliorate  the  conditions  within  their  particular 


PROTECTIVE  LEGISLATION  FOR  EMPLOYEES      33 1 

social  compartment;  the  modern  democratic  ideal  is  to  re- 
move the  artificial  obstacles  which  tend  to  perpetuate  social 
and  economic  inequalities,  and  to  give  each  individual  an 
opportunity  to  help  himself.  Opportunity  for  each  and  for 
all,  not  paternalism  or  philanthropy  on  the  part  of  a  few,  is 
the  aim  of  modern  industrial  legislation. 

The  exaggeration  of  the  non-interference  system  and  the 
glorification  of  the  ideal  of  negative  liberty  was  due  to  the 
enthusiasm  and  the  hopes  of  a  strong  and  aggressive  class  of 
English  merchants  and  industrialists  who  were  at  that  time 
leading  the  world  in  commerce  and  industry.  To  cut  the  old 
medieval  bonds  which  favored  "well  ordered"  trade  and 
"fair"  prices,  signified  progress,  freedom,  and  wealth  getting 
to  shrewd  men  conscious  of  their  superior  strength  and 
ability.  They  were  eager  to  play  the  fascinating  commercial 
game  without  harassing  rules.  Just  at  the  flood-tide  of  this 
reaction  against  medievalism  and  mercantilism,  and  before 
the  evils  of  unrestrained  competition  and  of  unregulated 
industry  became  apparent,  the  American  nation  was  formed 
and  the  American  people  adopted  written  federal  and  state 
constitutions. 

To  the  Americans  of  the  last  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
familiar  with  the  harassing  restrictions  imposed  by  the 
English  governors  and  proprietors,  and  accustomed  to  the 
self-reliant  life  of  the  frontiersman  and  primitive  agricultural- 
ist, any  system  of  constitutional  or  of  statute  law  which 
allowed  the  imposition  of  restraints  in  regard  to  the  disposal 
of  property  or  of  labor  power  seemed  to  contain  elements  of 
tyranny.  Their  past  experience  on  this  continent  and  in 
England  wrought  into  the  very  fiber  of  their  being  a  distrust 
of  a  military  chieftain  and  of  an  overlord  of  the  semi-feudal 
type.  The  environment  and  past  experience  of  the  American 
pioneer  naturally  led  him  to  accept  the  laissez  fake  doctrine 
with  extraordinary  avidity  and  enthusiasm;  and  he  exhibited 


-:  i 


^^^ 


:b 


ti%'' 


w. 


if 


Pi 


332    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

his  extreme  confidence  in  the  universal  and  perpetual  validity 
and  desirability  of  that  system  by  crystallizing  into  bills 
of  rights  and  rigid  constitutional  forms  these  principles  of  an 
exceptional  or  unique  epoch  in  the  world's  history.  And  this 
crystallization  occurred  at  the  very  threshold  of  an  era  in 
which  the  fundamental  postulates  of  the  non-interference  and 
decentralized  system  of  governmental  control  were  being 
consigned  to  the  scrap-heap  by  the  uplift  of  a  new  industrial 
system.  At  the  very  time  when  a  weak  and  growing  wage 
earning  class  needed  protecting  legislation  to  guard  it  from 
the  aggressions  of  the  economically  stronger  employing  class, 
the  laissezfaire  philosophy  was  invoked  to  prevent  the  erection 
of  adequate  protecting  barriers.  Sailing  under  the  motto  of 
hberty  and  freedom,  the  laissez  [aire  philosophy  is  favorable 
to  the  interests  of  the  economically  strong,  and  inimical  to  the 
interests  of  the  economically  weak. 

According  to  the  laissezfaire  theory  unrestrained  compe- 
tition would  automatically  lead  to  fair  wages,  fair  prices,  and 
decent  conditions  of  working  and  hving;  and  legislative 
interference  in  regard  to  the  relations  between  labor  and 
capital  was  held  to  be  unwise  and  unnecessary.  This  individ- 
ualistic theory  may  not  have  been  very  unjust  or  wide  of  the 
mark  in  a  country  of  undeveloped  resources,  small  businesses, 
and  local  markets.  The  employer  and  employed  of  a  century 
ago  were  closely  in  touch  with  each  other  both  during  and 
after  the  working  day;  and  the  producer  and  consumer  were 
acquainted  with  each  other.  In  our  early  national  history 
the  theory  of  non-interference  may  have  been  carried  to  an 
extreme  even  for  that  day  and  generation;  but,  if  so,  it 
was  a  natural  reaction  from  the  oppression  of  colonial  trade 
restriction. 

Since  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  federal  constitution 
industrial  conditions  have  undergone  revolutionary  transfor- 
mations which  have  greatly  modified  the  relations  between 


PROTECTIVE  LEGISLATION  FOR  EMPLOYEES      ^33 

the  employer  and  the  employee,  and  between  producer  and 
consumer.  Large  business  combinations,  the  disappearance 
of  free  land,  the  growth  of  world-wide  markets,  and  the  use  of 
minute  subdivision  of  labor  have  produced  conditions  such 
that  competition  is  no  longer  adequate  to  insure  proper 
working  conditions  in  industry,  or  proper  composition  of 
products.  Trade-union  and  legislative  action  must  now  be 
resorted  to  in  order  to  accomplish  what  in  a  simpler  industrial 
order  may  have  been  fairly  well  brought  about  by  competition. 
But  the  legal  rules  and  formulae  applicable  to  a  crude  indus- 
trial society  are  still  appUed  in  this  country.  Of  course, 
these  principles  have  not  remained  unchanged.  Legal  inter- 
pretation of  the  constitution  and  of  the  common  law  has 
slowly  modified  as  the  years  have  rolled  by.  Today  it  would 
be  difficult  for  one  of  the  members  of  the  Constitutional 
Convention  of  1787  to  understand  our  interpretation  of  cer- 
tain important  sections  of  the  constitution.  Social  and  eco- 
nomic adjustments  have  been  so  obvious  and  so  striking  that 
many  laws  affecting  the  condition  of  employment  now  pass 
the  constitutional  test  which  only  a  few  years  ago  would 
have  been  summarily  rejected.  Nevertheless,  it  is  true  that 
we  of  the  twentieth  century  are  still  controlled  by  the  ideals 
generated  at  the  time  of  an  enthusiastic  reaction  from  the 
regulations  imposed  by  medievalism  and  mercantilism.  It 
has  come  to  pass  that  a  legal  doctrine  and  a  social  ethic  which 
were  especially  acceptable  to  a  frontier  people  who  had  been 
harassed  in  colonial  times  by  England's  restrictive  policy, 
through  incorporation  into  the  federal  and  state  constitutions 
have  continued  as  potent  and  compelling  forces  long  after 
their  advocacy  has  been  given  up  by  the  majority  of  the 
people  of  the  nation. 

What  is  Liberty?  The  older  view  of  liberty  was  purely 
negative;  the  concept  which  is  gradually  winning  favor  is  a 
positive  one.    According  to  the  older  idea  liberty  consisted 


r 


^HP 


PI 

.1 


J 


334    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

in  the  absence  of  restraints;  the  savage,  unhampered  by  the 
legal  restraints,  social  conventions,  and  ethical  imperatives  of 
modern  life,  was  a  free  man  par  excellence.    Liberty  in  its 
negative  aspect  is  like  a  geometrical   area,  and  every  law 
restraining  the  individual  in  any  manner  signifies  a  reduction 
in  the  extent  of  this  area.     The  modern  positive  view  con- 
ceives of  Uberty  as  thriving  in  the  presence  of  law.    Laws 
regulating  the  mutual  relations  between  individuals  of  various 
classes  and  interests  may  increase  liberty,  instead  of  inter- 
fering with  the  rights  and  privileges  of  men.     The  savage  or 
the  soUtary  frontiersmen  may  rationally  cherish  the  negative 
ideal  of  liberty,  but  the  member  of  a  modern  crowded  and 
interdependent  industrial  nation  finds  that  the  negative  type 
of  Hberty  leads  to  the  coercion  of  the  weak  by  the  strong. 
Negative  liberty  carried  to  its  logical  extreme  leads  to  anarchy. 
Liberty  does  not  mean  the  same  today  that  it  did  yesterday, 
and  tomorrow's  interpretation  will  be  made  in  the  Hght  of 
tomorrow's  industrial  and  social  conditions. 

Men  often  overlook  the  fact  that  there  are  two  important 
kinds  of  restraint  placed  upon  individuals  living  in  a  civihzed 
community,— economic  and  legal.     Individual  hberty,  or  the 
freedom  of  an  individual  from  restraint,  may  often  be  increased 
by  adding  certain  legal  restraints,  thereby  reducing  the  power 
of  certain  economic  restraints.     The  sum  total  of  restraint 
may  be  decreased  by  adding  to  legal  restraints  which  remove 
economic   restraints.     Many  American   judges   seem   rarely 
able  to  comprehend  the  simple  fact  that  the  addition  of  legal 
restraints  may  increase  actual  and  concrete  freedom  of  action. 
As  an  example,  consider  the  law  fixing  the  maximum  number  of 
hours  per  day  during  which  women  wage  earners  may  be  em- 
ployed in  factories.     Manifestly  such  a  law  adds  to  the  legal 
restraints  thrown  around  women  workers;  but  to  assert  that 
such  a  statute,  framed  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  women 
wage  earners  from  undue  economic  compulsion,  means  interfcr- 


PROTECTIVE  LEGISLATION  FOR  EMPLOYEES       335 

ence  with  any  sort  of  freedom  which  is  valuable  to  the  workers 
is  absurd  or  disingenuous.  Such  legislation  leads  to  rehef 
from  the  steady  pressure  of  economic  coercion  which  forces 
women  to  work  many  hours  each  day,  to  injure  their  health, 
and  to  endanger  posterity.  Such  a  statute  can  only  consti- 
tute an  interference  with  any  real  and  tangible  form  of  free- 
dom of  contract  when  both  parties  to  the  contract  are  equal 
as  bargainers.  Mrs.  Robins,  the  president  of  the  National 
Women's  Trade  Union  League,  has  said  in  words  tinged  with 
irony:  "Every  one  who  knows  what  is  going  on  in  the  world 
(except  judges  and  lawyers)  knows  that  freedom  of  contract 
can  exist  only  between  parties  on  an  economic  equahty." 
Equity  between  equals  is  often  injustice  when  applied  to  re- 
lations between  unequals.  In  short,  it  is  not  difficult,  by  fixing 
the  attention  upon  the  past  and  upon  our  outgrown  industrial 
system,  to  so  interpret  liberty  and  freedom  of  contract  as  to 
lead  to  injustice  and  to  coercion  of  the  weak. 

Trend  of  Court  Decisions.  The  extreme  aversion  to  legal 
limitations  upon  the  independence  of  the  individual  and  the 
excessive  fear  of  governmental  control  have  led  to  some 
unanticipated  consequences.  Certain  negative  clauses  which 
restrain  constituted  authority  were  incorporated  into  our 
state  and  federal  constitutions.  These  clauses  were  aimed  at 
the  ever-present  specter  of  t>Tannical  government.^  By  a 
pecuhar  transmutation  through  judicial  interpretation  they 
have  become  bulwarks  behind  which  property  owners  are 
able  to  strongly  entrench  themselves.  The  familiar  clause 
declaring  that  no  person  shall  "be  deprived  of  life,  Hberty, 
or  property,  without  due  process  of  law,"  was  originally 
inserted  into  our  constitutional  system  in  order  to  prevent 
confiscation  of  property  by  tyrannical  officials.  Another 
famiUar  prohibition  incorporated  into  our  constitutional  sys- 
tem for  similar  reasons  declares  that  no  law  may  be  passed 
which  interferes  with  the  freedom  of  private  contracts  or 


IH 


'}. 


f 


\'i 


M 


33^     HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

engagements.     Again,  more  or  less  well  defined  prohibitions 
of  special  or  class  legislation  which  grants  special  privileges 
are  found  in  the  constitutions  of  many  states;  and  the  four- 
teenth amendment  to  the  federal  constitution  among  other 
things  declares  ''that  no  State  shall  make  or  enforce  any 
law  which  shall  abridge  the  privileges  or  immunities  of  citi- 
zens of  the  United  States.''    Strictly  interpreted,  these  clauses 
seem  to  constitute  a  constitutional  prohibition  of  legislation 
which  interferes  with  the  so-called  freedom  of  contract,  and 
of  class  legislation.     In  reality,  these  prohibitions  artificially 
strengthen  what  are  called  individual  and  corporate  rights, 
and  give  those  rights  an  almost  impregnable  position.     "The 
general  status  of  the  property  owner  under  the  law  cannot  be 
changed  by  the  action  of  the  legislature,  or  the  executive,  or 
the  people  of  a  State  voting  at  the  polls,  or  all  three  put 
together.    It  cannot  be  changed  without  either  a  concensus 
of  opinion  among  the  judges,  which  should  lead  them  to 
retrace  their  old  views,  or  an  amendment  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  by  the  slow  and  cumbersome  machinery 
provided  for  that  purpose,  or,  last  — and  I  hope  most  im- 
probable—a revolution."  1     These  prohibitions,  which  are 
so  firmly  embedded  in  our  legal  system,  are  construed  to 
prohibit  any  legislation  which  deprives  a  citizen  of  the  right 
to  buy  or  sell  labor  power  whenever  and  under  whatsoever 
conditions  he  may  desire  to  buy  or  to  sell. 

The  courts  have  never  rigidly  adhered  to  a  strict  interpre- 
tation of  these  phrases.  A  certain  amount  of  class  legislation 
has  been  allowed  as  a  matter  of  practical  expediency.  Pro- 
tective tariffs  and  child  labor  laws  have  long  been  allowed. 
Contracts  which  are  "contrary  to  public  policy"  are  held  to 
be  null  and  void.  Agreements  in  restraint  of  trade  and  con- 
tracts not  to  marry  are  held  to  be  contrary  to  public  policy. 
The  elastic  element  in  our  constitutional  system  in  so  far  as  it 

*  Hadley,  The  Independent^  April  x6,  1908. 


PROTECTIVE  LEGISLATION  FOR  EMPLOYEES       337 

touches  the  question  of  labor  legislation  is  found  in  the  concept 
of  "contrary  to  pubKc  policy."  Inevitably  the  interpretation, 
judicial  and  otherwise,  changes  as  industrial  and  social  forms 
and  relations  undergo  modification.  The  law  is  a  progressive 
science;  but  its  progress  is  deliberate.  This  regulative  power 
which  modifies  the  right  of  freedom  of  contract  and  introduces 
certain  limitations  upon  the  exercise  of  property  rights  is 
called  the  "police  power  of  the  state."  The  police  power  is 
a  comprehensive  and  somewhat  vague  term.  It  has  two  chief 
attributes;  "it  aims  directly  to  secure  and  promote  the  public 
welfare,  and  it  does  so  by  restraint  and  compulsion."  ^  As 
long  as  socijfl  and  industrial  conditions  change,  the  police 
power  must^e  capable  of  development.  It  is  a  safety  valve 
in  any  community  whose  highest  authority  is  derived  from  a 
written  constitution  which  cannot  be  readily  amended.  The 
problem  is  to  secure  an  extension  of  the  police  power  which 
keeps  pace  with  industrial  and  social  change;  and  this  prob- 
lem is  a  difficult  one  in  an  age  of  revolutionary  industrial  and 
commercial  changes. 

Labor  legislation  constitutes  an  interference  with  the 
original  and  unmodified  doctrines  of  liberty  and  of  the  free- 
dom of  contract.  Labor  legislation  when  sustained  by  the 
courts  is  sustained  as  a  legitimate  exercise  of  the  police 
power.  The  decisions  are  still  conflicting,  and  the  outcome  in 
a  given  case  involving  the  application  of  the  police  power, 
uncertain;  but  the  philosophy  underlying  our  judicial  system 
is  undoubtedly  undergoing  radical  and  far-reaching  modifi- 
cations. The  members  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  are  invariably  men  past  middle  age.  In  1920,  only 
one  of  the  nine  members  was  less  than  sixty  years  of  age; 
and  four  were  past  seventy  years  of  age.  These  men  re- 
ceived their  training  and  had  their  ideals  and  philosophy 
of  life  quite  definitely  formulated  a  generation  ago.     But 

^  Freund,  The  Police  Power,  p.  3. 


Ill 


It 


Pi 

ft 


338    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

since  that  time  the  fundamentals  of  economic  and  political 
science  have  been  subjected  to  important  transformations. 
As  younger  men,  trained  in  the  newer  school  of  economics  and 
saturated  with  the  recent  teachings  of  our  colleges  and  uni- 
versities, come  to  the  front  in  the  legal  profession,  we  may 
confidently  expect  the  older  laissez  /aire  or  individualistic 
theory  of  the  law  and  of  justice  to  be  more  rapidly  modified. 
The  trend  of  court  decisions  has  been  away  from  the  tradi- 
tional idea  of  freedom  of  contract  and  laissez /aire,  and  toward 
an  increase  in  the  police  power  of  the  state  in  the  interests 
of  practical  and  tangible  freedom  for  the  individual.     The 
pressure  of  industrial  change  has  been  so  potent  and  compel- 
ling that  legal  precedents,  social  inertia,  and  the  direct  oppo^ 
sition  of  certain  classes  in  the  community  have  gradually, 
but  tardily,  yielded.     There  is  reason  to  believe  that  man> 
limitations  now  deemed  essential  by  our  courts  will  soon  be 
seen  to  be  non-essential  and  subversive  of  free  institutions  in 
the  twentieth  century.     The  validity  of  this  thesis  must  be 
maintained   by  a   presentation  of   the  history  and  present 
status  of  labor  legislation.     One  student  of  this  problem  haa 
arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  the  constitutionality  of  a  re^ 
strictive  labor  law  depends  upon  its  wisdom.     "In  othei 
words,  granted  that  a  restriction  is  wise  under  the  given 
condition,  it  is  an  easy  task  to  prove  that  it  is  also  consti- 
tutional."^    This  over-enthusiastic  statement  is  borne  out  in 
a  large  measure  by  the  court  decisions  relative  to  the  consti- 
tutionahty  of  laws  limiting  the  hours  of  the  working  day.     It 
is  perhaps  needless  to  remark  that  the  interpretation  of  what 
is  wise  or  unwise  in  a  given  situation  will  be  subject  to  wide 
variation. 

Perhaps  the  most  clear  and  definite  example  of  judicial 
advance  is  found  in  two  Illinois  decisions  upon  laws  limiting 
the  working  hours  of  female  factory  employees.    The  first 


/ 


^  Seager,  Political  Science  Quarterly.    Vol.  19:  589. 


PROTECTIVE  LEGISLATION  FOR  EMPLOYEES       339 

decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  that  state  was  given  in  1895. 
An  eight-hour  law  was  declared  unconstitutional.    Fifteen 
years  later  the  court  declared  a  ten-hour  law  constitutional. 
The  contrast  in  the  two  decisions  is  indicated  by  the  following 
extracts  from  the  two  decisions.      In  1895  the  court  declared: 
*'This  enactment  is  a  purely  arbitrar>^  restriction  upon  the 
fundamental  right  of  the  citizen  to  control  his  or  her  own  time 
and  faculties.     It  substitutes  the  judgment  of  the  legislature 
for  the  judgment  of  the  employer  and  employee  in  a  matter 
about  which  they  are  competent  to  agree  with  each  other. 
But  the  police  power  of  the  state  can  only  be  permitted  to 
limit  or  abridge  such  a  fundamental  right  as  the  right  to 
make  contracts,  when  the  exercise  of  such  power  is  necessary 
to  promote  the  health,  comfort,  welfare,  or  safety  of  society 
or  the  public;  and  it  is  questionable  whether  it  can  be  exercised 
to  prevent  injury  to  the  individual  engaged  in  a  particular 
calling."     Ten  years  earlier,  in  1885,  the  New  York  Court  of 
Appeals  in  declaring  a  law  prohibiting  the  manufacture  of 
cigars  in  tenements  asked:  — "What  possible  relation  can 
cigar  making  in  any  building  have  to  the  health  of  the  general 
public?"     In  the  1910  decision  the  court  recognized  that  a 
long  working  day  might  injure  women  workers  even  if  it  did 
not  adversely  affect  male  wage  earners.     It  presented  a  very 
different  view  as  to  the  police  power.     "It  would,  therefore, 
seem  obvious  that  legislation  which  limits  the  number  of 
hours  which  woman  shall  be  permitted  to  work  to  ten  hours 
in  a  single  day  in  such  employments  as  are  carried  on  in 
mechanical  establishments,   factories,  and  laundries,   would 
tend  to  preserve  the  health  of  women  and  insure  the  produc- 
tion of  vigorous  offspring  by  them,  and  would  directly  con- 
duce to  the  health,  morals,  and  general  welfare  of  the  public, 
and  that  such  legislation  would  fall  clearly  within  the  police 
power  of  the  state."     The  early  decision  is  permeated  with 
the  old  individualistic  and  negative  theory  of  hberty.     The 


! 


1^ 


Pi  ' 


^f 


ti 


r 


/ 


340    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

recent  decision  accepts  the  doctrine  that  the  welfare  of  the 
individual  is  essential  to  the  general  welfare,  and  that  legal 
restraints  may  increase  the  tangible  liberty  of  the  individual 
and  promote  the  general  welfare.  The  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  sustaining  an  Arkansas  statute 
providing  for  the  payment  of  wages  to  coal  miners  according 
to  the  weight  of  the  coal  mined  before  it  is  screened,  has 
opened  the  way  for  much  desirable  social  and  labor  legislation. 
The  court  has  taken  a  sober  view  of  the  constitutional  limi- 
tations placed  upon  its  own  powers  to  annul  legislation.  "If 
the  law  in  controversy  has  a  reasonable  relation  to  the  pro- 
tection of  the  public  health,  safety,  or  welfare,  it  is  not  to  be 
set  aside  because  the  judiciary  may  be  of  the  opinion  that 
the  act  will  fail  of  its  purpose  or  because  it  is  thought  to  be 
an  unwise  exertion  of  the  authority  vested  in  the  legislative 
branch  of  the  government."* 

History  of  Labor  Legislation.  The  historical  background 
for  our  labor  legislation  is  found  in  England.  Like  other 
European  countries  in  the  medieval  period  England  minutely 
regulated  the  activities  of  the  laboring  class.  Wages,  the 
length  of  the  working  day,  apprenticeship,  and  the  like  were 
minutely  determined  by  statutes,  and  combinations  of  work- 
ingmen  were  prohibited.  Doubtless,  as  in  recent  years,  the 
amount  of  regulation  and  restriction  was  theoretically  greater 
as  indicated  by  the  mass  of  legislation  than  it  was  in  actual 
practice.  Again,  as  at  the  present  time,  legislation  undoubt- 
edly outstripped  enforcement.  In  the  eighteenth  century,  as 
the  new  industrial  regime  began  to  destroy  the  old,  opposi- 
tion to  regulation  developed.  Gradually  the  old  medieval 
system  fell  into  disuse  and  disrepute.  The  old  regulations 
became  burdensome;  mobility  of  labor  instead  of  fixity  was 
demanded  by  the  rising  manufacturing  class.    The  customary 

»  McLean  vs.  Arkansas,  211  U.  S.  539.  See  The  Survey,  September  3,  1910^ 
P-  777* 


PROTECTIVE  LEGISLATION  FOR  EMPLOYEES       341 


regulations  in  regard  to  apprenticeship,  formulated  in  the  time 
of  Queen  Elizabeth,  were  destroyed  piecemeal.  After  Lord 
Mansfield  had  voiced  the  sentiments  prevailing  during  the 
first  years  of  last  century  by  declaring  this  famous  statute  to 
be  "against  the  natural  rights  and  contrary  to  the  common 
law  rights  of  the  land,"  it  was  removed  in  18 14  from  the 
statute  books.  The  assault  upon  the  Navigation  Acts  began 
in  1796.  In  the  forties  the  long  struggle  for  the  repeal  of  the 
corn  laws  was  won.  Step  by  step  mercantilism  had  yielded 
to  the  system  of  non-interference;  but  while  the  life  of  the  old 
system  of  regulation  was  ebbing  away,  unexpected  evils  and 
complications  appeared.  The  harmony  and  beneficence  of 
laissezfaire  had  apparently  been  over-emphasized.  Production 
increased;  but  misery  multiplied  or  became  more  apparent. 
Displacement  of  labor,  over-worked  children,  unhealthful 
working  conditions,  and  dreary  factory  villages  became  com- 
mon phenomena.  "In  many  ways,  therefore,  it  might  seem 
that  the  great  material  advances  which  had  been  made,  the  re- 
moval of  artificial  restrictions,  the  increase  of  liberty  of  action, 
the  extension  of  the  field  of  competition,  the  more  enlight- 
ened opinions  on  economic  and  social  relations,  had  failed 
to  increase  human  happiness  appreciably;  indeed,  for  a  time 
had  made  the  condition  of  the  mass  of  the  people  worse 
instead  of  better."^  The  evils  of  the  period  of  transition 
from  the  handicraft  to  the  factory  system  led  to  the  birth  of  a 
new  system  of  industrial  regulation  even  before  the  old  was 
entirely  swept  aside.  The  competitive  game  was  not  allowed 
to  be  fought  without  rules,  even  in  the  period  when  individ- 
ualism was  at  its  flood. 

In  1802  a  law  was  passed  to  alleviate  the  condition  of  the 

over-worked,  under-fed,  and  abused  pauper  children  who  had 

been  taken  from  the  poorhouses  of  the  large  cities  of  England 

and  transported  to  the  sparsely  settled  districts  of  the  north- 

*  Cheyney,  Ifidustrial  and  Social  History  of  England,  p.  239. 


C'      J 


If 


I 

T  i 

I 


342    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

west  which  were  developing  manufacturing  centers  because 
of  the  presence  of  water  power.  This  bill,  entitled  "Health 
and  Morals  Act  to  regulate  the  Labor  of  Bound  Children  in 
Cotton  Factories,"  was,  as  the  title  indicates,  restricted  in  its 
application;  its  importance  lies  chiefly  in  the  fact  that  it  is  the 
forerunner  of  a  vast  array  of  factory  laws  for  the  amelioration 
of  the  conditions  of  workers  of  all  sexes  and  ages  in  a  variety 
of  industries.  "From  the  beginning  the  protection  of  the 
state  was  gradually  extended  to  'young  people'  and  other 
textile  industries  (1833),  then  to  women  (1844),  next  to  all 
large  industries  (1864),  then  to  the  smaller  workshops  gen- 
erally (1867),  and  finally  in  1878  blossomed  out  into  a  full- 
fledged  factory  act,  regulating  industry  generally  in  behalf 
of  the  health  and  safety  of  the  laboring  population."^ 

In  the  medieval  period,  since  wages  and  other  conditions  of 
labor  were  subject  to  regulation  by  the  government,  concerted 
attempts  to  raise  wages  or  to  shorten  the  working  day  were 
illegal  because  such  attempts  interfered  with  governmental 
regulation.  Beginning  with  the  sixteenth  century  various 
"combination  acts"  were  passed.  The  last  of  such  acts  was 
enacted  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century.  All  agree- 
ments between  workmen  entered  into  for  the  purpose  of 
raising  wages  or  of  changing  any  other  condition  of  employ- 
ment were  declared  illegal.  Workmen  entering  into  such 
combinations  were  liable  to  be  punished  by  imprisonment. 
This  legislation  made  the  essential  methods  and  poHcies  of 
organized  labor  unlawful.  During  the  first  years  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  not  only  were  labor  organizations  illegal, 
but  the  weight  of  public  sentiment  was  against  them.  Com- 
bination laws  were  relics  of  the  old  mercantile  system  carried 
down  into  a  period  when  laissez  faire  was  dominant;  but  the 
ruling  classes  felt  that  this  exception  was  favorable  to  their 
interests. 

*  Adams  and  Sumner,  Labor  Problems,  p.  464. 


II 


PROTECTIVE  LEGISLATION  FOR  EMPLOYEES       343 

Many  English  workmen  were  prosecuted  in  the  first  quarter 
of  the  century  under  the  combination  laws.  In  1824  the  com- 
bination laws  were  repealed;  but  in  the  following  year  the  pen- 
dulum swung  back  slightly  and  another  law  was  passed.  The 
net  result  of  the  two  laws  was  to  allow  wage  earners  to  meet 
for  the  purpose  of  raising  the  wages  or  shortening  the  work- 
•  ing  day  of  those  present  at  the  meeting.  Violence,  "intimi- 
dation," and  "obstruction"  to  accomplish  these  purposes  were 
illegal.  Under  this  legislation  labor  organizations  became 
lawful,  but  their  activities  were  confined  within  narrow 
Hmits.  In  1859  it  became  lawful  to  demand  higher  wages 
or  a  shorter  working  day  even  when  persons  other  than  the 
strikers  or  petitioners  were  involved.  Peaceful  persuasion 
of  fellow  workmen  was  legalized.  Finally,  by  laws  passed  by 
Parliament  in  187 1  and  1875,  trade  unions  were  definitely 
legalized;  and  their  normal  activities  were  declared  to  be  no 
longer  subject  to  legal  disapproval.  Unions  were  no  longer 
to  be  considered  combinations  in  restraint  of  trade,  and  their 
funds  were  protected.  Combinations  to  raise  prices  were 
still  illegal,  but  combinations  to  raise  wages  were  taken  out 
of  that  category.  The  common  law  doctrines  in  regard  to 
restraint  of  trade  and  special  legislation  were  modified  in 
favor  of  labor  organizations. 

In  the  United  States  a  similar  change  may  be  noted;  but 
in  this  country  not  only  the  common  law,  but  our  constitu- 
tional system  has  acted  so  as  to  retard  any  modification  of 
the  doctrines  of  freedom  of  contract  and  of  no  class  legislation, 
which  would  allow  the  legalization  of  labor  organizations  and 
of  legislation  protecting  the  employee.  Much  labor  legisla- 
tion has  been  declared  unconstitutional;  and,  as  a  consequence, 
American  workingmen  have  come  to  distrust  the  courts  more 
than  their  English  brethren.  With  the  exception  of  the 
mechanics'  lien  law,  free  school  legislation,  and  a  few  isolated 
attempts  to  limit  the  hours  of  labor  for  women  and  children, 


i  \ 


\\m 


"! 


I 


hi  I 


IM 


344    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

no  labor  legislation  of  importance  was  passed  until  after  the 
close  of  the  Civil  War.  Massachusetts  has  led  in  labor 
legislation.  In  1866  a  child  labor  law  was  passed;  in  1869  a 
state  bureau  of  labor  was  established;  in  the  seventies  a  ten- 
hour  law  for  women  and  child  workers  and  a  factory  inspec- 
tion act  were  passed.  These  laws  have  served  as  models  ^or 
similar  legislation  in  many  other  commonwealths. 

The  Chief  Forms  of  Labor  Legislation.  Labor  legislation  in 
the  states  of  the  United  States  relates  to  a  variety  of  different 
subjects,  such  as  the  estabhshment  of  departments  of  factory 
inspection,  limitation  of  the  hours  of  labor,  prohibition  of 
night  work  or  of  Sunday  labor,  the  exclusion  of  certain  classes 
of  wage  earners  from  certain  kinds  of  employment,  provi- 
sions for  the  frequent  payment  of  wages,  prohibition  of  truck 
payment,  guards  for  dangerous  machinery,  regulations  as  to 
the  sanitary  conditions  within  factories  and  workshops, 
regulations  as  to  cleaning  or  oiling  machinery,  apprenticeship, 
discrimination  against  union  men  either  in  hiring  or  dischar- 
ging workers,  and  many  other  matters  touching  upon  the 
health,  safety,  and  well-being  of  wage  earners.  In  addition 
many  regulations  have  been  passed  relating  specifically  to 
mines  and  mine  workers. 

Every  state  and  territory  and  the  federal  government  have 
passed  legislation  relating  to  labor.  The  Illinois  factory  law, 
which  went  into  effect  in  January,  19 10,  is  an  excellent  exam- 
ple of  a  factory  act.  The  chief  points  in  this  particular  piece 
of  labor  legislation  may  be  summarized  as  follows:  —  (a) 
All  machinery  must  be  carefully  protected,  (b)  Set  screws 
and  other  dangerous  projections  must  be  countersunk  or 
otherwise  guarded,  if  possible,  (c)  Means  must  be  provided 
for  quickly  stopping  machinery,  (d)  Machinery  must  not 
be  placed  closely  together;  adequate  passageways  must  be 
provided,  (e)  All  elevators  and  openings  in  the  floor  must  be 
enclosed.     (/)  Premises  must  be  sanitary.     Equal  tempera- 


PR0TECT1\E  LEGISLATION   FOR  EMPLOYEES      345 

ture  must  be  maintained;  and  suitable  seats  must  be  pro- 
\ided  for  female  workers,  (g)  Adequate  and  sanitary  toilet 
facilities  must  be  provided  for  workers  of  both  sexes,  (h) 
Food  must  not  be  eaten  in  any  room  where  white  lead,  arsenic, 
or  other  poisonous  gases  are  present,  (i)  Sufficient  means  of 
escape  in  the  case  of  fire  must  be  provided  and  kept  free  from 
obstruction,  (j)  Noxious  fumes  and  gases  must  be  removed 
as  far  as  is  practicable,  (k)  No  employee  shall  be  allowed  to 
operate  a  machine  with  which  he  is  not  familiar.  (/)  The 
employer  is  required  to  report  all  accidents  to  the  state  fac- 
tory inspector,  which  result  in  death.  Over  one-half  of  the 
American  states  have  provided  for  factory  inspection  depart- 
ments. In  this  number  are  included  all  of  the  industrial 
states  of  the  North  and  West. 

The  efficiency  of  labor  legislation  depends:  —  (a)  upon  the 
efficiency  of  the  inspection  department;  (b)  upon  the  power 
given  that  department;  and  (c)  upon  the  phraseology  of  the 
law,  —  for  example,  a  law  limiting  the  hours  of  labor  and  fix- 
ing the  limits  within  which  the  work  of  the  day  may  be  done 
is  more  readily  enforced  than  one  merely  limiting  the  hours. 
Much  labor  legislation  is  rendered  useless  or  is  emasculated 
through  the  lack  of  proper  inspection,  or  by  technicalities 
which  make  enforcement  difficult.  Again,  the  insertion  of 
some  clause  providing  for  certain  exemptions  may  result  in 
its  annulment  by  the  courts  on  the  ground  of  special  legisla- 
tion. There  is  a  bewildering  complexity  in  American  labor 
legislation,  coupled  with  extreme  variations  between  states. 
In  too  many  cases,  boards  with  overlapping  jurisdictions  have 
been  created;  in  certain  states  eight  or  more  distinct  groups  of 
officials  have  been  concerned  with  the  administration  of  the 
labor  law.  The  factory  inspectors  have  as  a  rule  been  too 
few  in  number  adequately  to  perform  the  task  assigned  them; 
and  appointments  have  often  been  made  purely  for  political 
reasons.    However,  the  administration  of  laws  in  regard  to 


Hi 


;■>  -I 

A 


i  * 


ii  J 


!■■ 


346    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 


PROTECTIVE  LEGISLATION  FOR  EMPLOYEES      347 


h  ^ 

V 


Ir 


n 


I 


i 


■ 


safety  in  factories  has  been  made  comparatively  easy  as  a 
consequence  of  the  passage  of  workingmen's  compensation 
acts.  Employees  now  welcome  the  suggestions  of  inspectors. 
In  regard  to  the  discretionary  power  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  officials  charged  with  the  administration  of  factory 
legislation,  three  methods  have  been  used,  (i)  The  law 
requires  certain  provisions  for  the  protection  of  employees, 
but  leaves  the  initial  step  to  the  discretion  of  the  factory 
inspection.  Much  is  left  to  the  judgment  of  an  inspector 
who  is  too  frequently  over- worked,  underpaid  and  p>oorly 
trained.  (2)  The  legislature  carefully  defines  the  necessary 
protection  and  states  who  must  provide  it.  The  inspector 
must  determine  whether  the  rigid  requirements  are  complied 
with.  As  the  legislature  is  not  well  equipped  to  pass  upon 
such  legislation  and  as  it  meets  as  a  rule  but  once  in  two 
years,  the  laws  cannot  easily  be  modified  to  meet  new  con- 
ditions or  to  remedy  defects.  (3)  The  statutes  provide  that 
suitable  and  reasonable  safeguards  must  be  provided;  but 
leave  the  exact  definition  of  "suitable"  and  "reasonable" 
to  a  commission  which  may  hire  experts,  instruct  and  direct 
the  factory  inspectors.^  The  third  method  is  superior  to  the 
first  and  second.  An  industrial  commission,  subject  to  court 
review,  may  determine  what  provisions  are  necessary  to  insure 
"safe"  conditions  in  factories  and  other  workplaces.  The 
commission  may  from  time  to  time  modify  their  rulings  as 
changing  conditions  may  demand.  The  specific  provisions  of 
the  industrial  code  may  in  this  manner  be  carefully  worked 
out  by  an  administrative  body  rather  than  by  a  purely  legis- 
lative body.  The  factory  inspectors  are  instructed  to  see  that 
the  standardized  requirements  of  the  commission  are  com- 
plied with.  Among  the  states  using  the  third  or  commission 
plan  for  the  enforcement  of  factory  legislation  are :  Wisconsin, 
Ohio,  New  York  and  Pennsylvania. 

^  See  Andrews,  American  Labor  Legidalion  Review,  June,  191 1. 


Present  Status  of  Labor  Legislation.  The  police  power  of 
the  state  furnishes  the  legal  basis  for  labor  legislation;  but 
the  fundamental  sanctions  are  social  and  economic  rather 
than  purely  legal.  These  sanctions  rest  upon  at  least  two 
well-grounded  piers  —  "  posteritism "  or  racial  improvement, 
and  humanitarianism  or  the  protection  of  the  weak  from  the 
aggression  of  the  strong.  Long  working  days,  speeded-up 
workers,  insanitary  shops,  dangerous  machinery  —  all  tend 
to  render  workers  and  their  descendants  weaker  and  more 
inefficient,  and  to  lower  the  physical,  mental,  and  moral  stam- 
ina of  the  race.  In  the  name  of  what  has  been  aptly  called 
"posteritism,"  in  the  name  of  human  progress,  it  is  the  duty 
of  society  through  its  executive  machine,  the  government, 
to  reduce  and  finally  to  remove  the  evils  now  apparently 
inseparably  connected  with  modern  industry.  "The  funda- 
mental purpose  of  labor  legislation  is  the  conservation  of  the 
human  resources  of  the  nation"  is  a  familiar  motto  of  the 
American  Association  for  Labor  Legislation. 

Society  is  slowly  coming  to  the  realization  of  the  fact  that 
equal  treatment  of  unequals  often  results  in  gross  injustice. 
Strong,  well -organized  workers  may  not  need  protective  laws, 
the  professional  man  may  not,  although  he  usually  wishes 
legal  enactments  as  to  professional  requirements  for  entrance 
into  the  profession;  but  the  child  and  unorganized  or  poorly, 
organized  men  and  women  workers  certainly  are  at  a  disad- 
vantage in  bargaining  with  well -organized  capital.  Legal 
protection  is  necessary  in  order  to  insure  fair,  or  even  decent 

treatment. 

Having  thus  briefly  stated  the  reasons  for  protective  laws 
for  workers,  and  outlined  the  causes  of  the  constitutional 
difficulties  which  obstruct  progress,  we  may  now  turn  to  a 
consideration  of  some  of  the  important  kinds  of  labor  legisla- 
tion, actual  and  proposed.  Factory  acts  relating  to  sanitary 
conditions  in  factories,  workshops,  and  mines,  to  the  guarding 


m 


■i  r 


m 


m 


in 


N 


348    HISTORY   AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

of  dangerous  machinery,  and  to  provisions  for  fire  escapes 
and  the  like,  have  not  been  greatly  interfered  with  because 
of  constitutional  difficulties.  The  courts  generally  recognize 
such  interference  with  industry  on  the  part  of  state  legis- 
latures to  be  a  legitimate  exercise  of  the  police  power  of  the 
state.  Such  provisions  are  written  into  statute  laws  in  the 
interest  of  public  health  and  public  safety.  The  courts  recog- 
nize that  the  interest  of  society  in  these  fundamental  matters 
is  more  important  than  the  individual  right  to  an  abstract 
and  theoretical  freedom  of  contract,  that  is,  freedom  to  enter 
into  a  contract  which  will  endanger  health  and  life. 

After  the  state  legislatures  have  passed  laws  relating  to 
hours  of  labor,  night  work,  use  of  dangerous  machinery,  or 
methods  of  wage  payments,  legal  and  constitutional  com- 
plications have  frequently  arisen.  The  courts  have  not  been 
easily  convinced  that  these  laws  constitute  a  legitimate 
exercise  of  the  police  power,  and  that  these  laws  were  not 
unwarranted  encroachments  upon  the  freedom  of  contract 
and  the  rights  of  property  guaranteed  by  the  federal  and 
various  state  constitutions.  Before  entering  upon  a  some- 
what detailed  examination  of  the  attitude  of  the  courts 
toward  these  important  kinds  of  labor  legislation,  it  must  be 
noted  that  there  are  three  different  classes  of  wage  earners  to 
be  considered  —  children  (under  sixteen  years  of  age) ,  women, 
and  men.  The  courts  look  upon  these  classes  differently.  It 
may  also  be  urged  that  from  a  social  or  an  economic  view- 
point lines  of  demarcation  may  also  be  drawn  between  these 
classes  of  workers.  Wages  and  the  possibility  of  organization 
differ,  and  the  effect  of  working  conditions  upon  home  life 
and  racial  efficiency  is  not  the  same  for  all  three  classes. 
Until  recently,  except  in  a  few  states,  men  only  have  been 
allowed  to  cast  the  ballot.  The  police  power  of  the  state 
may  readily  be  involved  in  favor  of  children  since  constitu- 
tional obstacles  have  long  been  swept  aside  in  regard  to 


iifiill 


PROTECTI\'E   LEGISLATION   FOR  EMPLOYEES      349 

minors.  In  the  case  of  women  workers  the  courts  have 
sanctioned  less  legislative  interference  than  they  will  in  the 
case  of  children;  but  more  than  in  the  case  of  men.  Three 
kinds  of  protective  laws  —  those  in  regard  to  hours  of  work, 
and  dangerous  or  unhealthful  occupations,  are  interrelated 
and  may  be  considered  in  connection  with  each  other. 

Laws  regulating  or  prohibiting  the  employment  of  children 
as  wage  workers  are  now  uniformly  recognized  as  within  the 
legitimate  sphere  of  the  police  power.  Minors  have  long 
been  considered  as  the  recipients  of  particular  care  and  pro- 
tection from  organized  society.  As  minors  are  not  free  to 
make  contracts  without  supervision,  child  labor  laws  are  not 
held  to  violate  the  constitutionally  guaranteed  rights  of  chil- 
dren. The  courts  clearly  recognize  the  legitimacy  of  the 
exercise  of  the  police  power  to  relieve  the  children  of  the 
nation  from  the  economic  pressure  which  tends  to  push  them 
into  industry  at  an  early  age. 

Forty-two  states  have  passed  legislation  limiting  the 
number  of  hours  per  day  or  per  week  which  a  woman  wage 
worker  may  be  permitted  to  work.  The  six  states  which 
have  neglected  to  pass  any  legislation  of  this  type  are:  — 
Alabama,  Florida,  Indiana,  Iowa,  New  Mexico  and  West 
Virginia.  Seven  western  states,  the  District  of  Columbia 
and  Porto  Rico  have  enacted  eight-hour  laws  for  women 
workers;  and  North  Dakota  and  Massachusetts  limit  the 
working  week  for  women  to  forty-eight  hours.  The  remain- 
ing states  place  some  limitations  upon  the  working  hours  for 
women.  For  example,  the  Michigan  law  provides  that  no 
female  shall  be  employed  for  more  than  an  average  of  nine 
hours  per  day  or  fifty-four  hours  per  week  in  any  manu- 
facturing establishment,  store,  hotel  or  theater;  but  permits 
a  maximum  of  ten  hours  in  a  day.  A  few  states  prohibit 
night  work  on  the  part  of  women;  four  or  five  additional 
states  limit  night  work  to  a  shorter  period  than  day  work. 


^  I 


iBi 


Ji'i 


I'  i 


iU 


350    HISTORY  AND   TROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

This  legislation  is,  however,  limited  to  certain  specified 
employments  instead  of  being  inclusive.  The  New  York 
law,  for  example,  applies  only  to  stores  and  factories.  Neariy 
all  the  states  have  passed  laws  requiring  seats  to  be  provided 
for  female  employees;  but  only  in  about  a  dozen  states  do 
these  laws  apply  to  all  establishments  employing  women. 
Some  states  have  enacted  legislation  forbidding  the  employ- 
ment of  women  in  specified  occupations.  No  less  than  seven- 
teen states  prohibit  the  employment  of  women  in  mines. 
The  prohibition  of  the  industrial  employment  of  women 
immediately  before  or  after  childbirth  has  been  made  the 
subject  of  legislation  in  a  small  number  of  states.  The 
Massachusetts  law  prohibits  the  employment  of  a  woman 
for  two  weeks  previous  to  and  four  weeks  after  childbirth. 
The  Missouri  law  of  19 19  requires  a  period  of  three  before 
and  after  childbirth.  European  countries  have  quite  gener- 
*ally  recognized  the  desirability  of  legislation  preventing  the 
night  work  of  women  as  well  as  of  the  employment  of  women 
immediately  before  or  after  childbirth. 

The  chief  decisions  relating  to  the  regulation  of  the  working 
hours  of  women  wage  earners  are  as  follows:  —  In  1876 
Massachusetts  sustained'  a  ten-hour  law.  In  1902  a  ten- 
hour  law  for  women  workers  was  sustained  in  Nebraska  and 
also  in  Washington.  In  1906  the  Oregon  ten-hour  law  was 
upheld  in  the  state  courts;  and  two  years  later  by  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court.  In  19 10  a  statute  modeled  after 
that  of  Oregon  was  sustained  in  Illinois,  thus  reversing  an 
earlier  decision  in  regard  to  an  eight-hour  law  for  women  wage 
earners.  In  1909  an  inferior  court  in  Michigan  declared  the 
nine-hour  law  of  that  state  unconstitutional  in  so  far  as  it 
related  to  women  workers.  The  act  was  held  to  be  a  form  of 
class  legislation  because  an  exception  was  made  in  favor  of 
the  canning  establishments  of  the  state.  The  State  Supreine 
Court  in  19 10  declared  the  law  to  be  constitutional.     In  1907 


PROTECTIVE  LEGISLATION   FOR  EMPLOYEES      351 

the  New  York  statute  prohibiting  the  night  work  of  women 
wage  earners  was  declared  unconstitutional  by  the  state 
courts.  Another  law  was  enacted  in  19 13  and  declared  con- 
stitutional in  191 5. 

The  two  most  important  cases  in  regard  to  female  workers 
are  the  Oregon  laundry  case  before  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court  in  1908,  and  the  Ritchie  case  before  the  Illinois  Supreme 
Court  in  1 9 10.  In  both  cases  the  constitutionality  of  laws 
restricting  the  hours  of  labor  for  female  employees  was  upheld, 
and  in  both  cases  the  tactics  pursued  by  the  lawyers  for  the 
state  were  similar.  Louis  D.  Brandeis  was  the  lawyer  chiefly 
responsible  for  the  briefs  in  both  cases.  Each  brief  is  almost 
entirely  devoted  to  a  careful  and  painstaking  presentation  of 
the  evil  effects  of  a  long  working  day  upon  the  health  of 
women  —  the  mothers  of  the  race.  The  appeal  did  not  rest 
so  much  upon  legal  precedent  as  upon  the  evils  which  are  today 
resulting  from  long-continued  work  of  women  in  our  factories, 
stores,  and  laundries.  The  presentation  was  convincing,  and 
in  each  case  the  law  was  sustained  as  being  a  legitimate  and 
desirable  exercise  of  the  police  power  of  the  state. 

The  Illinois  case,  to  which  reference  has  been  made  in  a 
preceding  section,  is  particularly  interesting,  because  the 
court  practically  reversed  an  earlier  decision,  and  because  of 
the  circumstances  surrounding  the  trial.  In  September,  1909, 
an  injunction  was  granted  by  a  judge  of  an  inferior  court 
preventing  the  enforcement  of  the  law  in  the  case  of  the 
establishment  of  the  coniplainant.  The  plea  for  the  injunc- 
tion came  nominally  from  two  women  employees  of  the  W.  C. 
Ritchie  Company  —  paper-box  manufacturers.  In  reality, 
it  seems  to  have  come  from  an  association  of  manufacturers. 
The  women  averred  that  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  make  a 
living  unless  they  were  allowed  to  work  more  than  ten  hours 
per  day.  One  of  the  women  stated  that  she  had  been  em- 
ployed by  the  company  for  thirty-two  years,  or  since  she  was 


[I: 


I    i 


II 

I! 


^ 


|i 


if'l 


352     HISTORY   AND   PROBLEMS   OF   ORGANIZED   LABOR 

thirteen  years  of  age.  She  asserted  that  she  was  considered 
to  be  "the  most  competent  skilled  worker  in  her  department.'' 
Yet  her  employers  were  unable  or  unwilling  to  pay  sufficient 
wages  for  ten  hours'  daily  work  to  enable  this  woman  to  sup- 
port herself  and  sister.  Surely  this  was  "  a  hideous  admission  " 
on  the  part  of  her  employers.  If  such  was  the  actual  situa- 
tion, the  choice  would  lie  between  cheap  paper  boxes  and 
healthy  womanhood.  But  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  this 
woman  was  "skilled  and  skinned." 

It  may  not  be  entirely  gratuitous  to  ask  why  employers 
should  be  so  eager  to  raise,  as  was  done  in  this  case,  the  point 
of  interference  with  the  worker's  freedom  of  contract.  Is  it 
not  peculiar  and  significant  that  associations  of  employers 
should  suddenly  become  so  solicitous  of  the  rights  of  their 
female  employees  that  they  will  fight  this  and  similar  leg- 
islation? The  National  Women's  Trade  Union  League  has 
declared  for  an  eight-hour  day.  Their  members  evidently 
are  not  afraid  of  any  loss  of  freedom  as  a  consequence  of 
such  legislation.  This  question  is  a  pertinent  one:  —  "Are 
these  anxious  employers  actuated  by  humane  or  selfish 
motives?  " 

The  granting  of  the  injunction  placed  the  burden  of  push- 
ing the  case  upon  the  state  officials;  and  it  was  immediately 
taken  into  the  State  Supreme  Court.  Various  organizations 
in  Illinois  —  labor  unions,  religious  conferences,  assemblies  of 
social  workers,  women's  clubs,  and  the  daily  press  —  took  up 
the  matter;  and  an  aggressive  campaign  of  education  was 
begun.  Excellent  lawyers  were  retained  to  aid  the  state's 
attorneys.  As  has  been  stated,  the  court  decided  that  the 
law  was  not  unconstitutional,  and  that  it  constituted  a  legiti- 
mate exercise  of  the  police  power. 

A  peculiar  sidelight  is  thrown  on  this  Illinois  injunction  pro- 
ceeding because  the  judge  in  the  lower  court  stated  in  his 
decision  that  the  ten-hour  law  for  women  workers  "virtually 


PROTECTIVE  LEGISLATION  FOR  EMPLOYEES       353 

relegates  women  back  to  dependence."  The  policy  of  the 
State  of  lUinois  has  been  to  advance  the  cause  of  women  and  to 
place  women  upon  an  equal  footing  with  men.  A  law  which 
would  be  held  to  be  unconstitutional  if  applied  to  men,  ought, 
therefore,  to  be  held  unconstitutional  when  applied  to  women, 

—  argued  the  court.  The  only  important  decision  of  a 
recent  date  adverse  to  the  regulation  of  the  work  of  women 
by  legislative  enactment  is  the  decision  of  the  New  York 
Court  of  Appeals  in  1907  which  declared  the  law  prohibiting 
the  night  work  of  women  wage  earners  to  be  an  unwarranted 
interference  with  their  right  to  freedom  of  contract.  The 
reasoning  is  similar  to  that  followed  by  the  Illinois  judge. 
"Under  our  laws,"  said  the  court,  "men  and  women  stand 
alike  in  their  constitutional  rights,  and  there  is  no  warrant 
for  making  any  discrimination  between  them  with  respect  to 
liberty  of  person  or  contract."  This  decision  is,  however, 
directly  contrary  to  the  general  trend  of  legal  opinion  as  indi- 
cated by  other  recent  decisions  in  regard  to  the  legal  regula- 
tion of  the  work  of  women.  The  existence  of  phsyiological 
differences  between  men  and  women  is  held  by  the  courts  to 
afiford  sufficient  basis  for  an  extension  of  the  police  power 
beyond  that  which  will  be  sanctioned  in  the  case  of  male 
workers. 

Protective  laws  in  regard  to  adult  male  workers  experience 
great  difficulty  in  running  the  gauntlet  of  constitutionality. 
The  courts  do  not  assume  the  same  attitude  toward  an  at- 
tempt of  organized  labor  to  obtain  an  eight-hour  day  that 
they  do  toward  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  aggregated  capital 

—  a  corporation  —  to  acquire  property.  The  right  to  daily 
leisure  is  not  legally  safeguarded  as  securely  as  is  the  right 
to  acquire  and  control  property.  It  is  a  phase  of  the  old 
question  of  the  relative  rights  of  capital  and  of  horny-handed 
men.  A  recent  text  book  in  ethics  has  stated  the  case  clearly 
and  accurately.    The  "legal  attitude  toward  pressure  ex- 


n 


11 


I 


354    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

erted  by  business  corporations  for  the  familiar  end  of  acqui- 
sition" is  very  different  from  that  toward  pressure  "exerted 
by  the  union  for  the  novel  end  of  a  standard  of  living"  — 
that  is,  for  a  shorter  working  day.  The  courts  have  recog- 
nized the  danger  of  long  working  days  in  the  case  of  mothers 
and  future  mothers;  but  it  is  not  as  yet  understood  that 
the  general  welfare  also  demands  healthy  fathers  who  are 
not  overworked.  The  good  citizen  and  the  good  father 
must  have  a  reasonable  amount  of  leisure  each  day  and 
every  day.  Man  is  more  than  a  mere  working,  eating,  and 
sleeping  animal  or  machine.  May  we  not  expect  that  legal 
recognition  will  soon  be  given  to  these  self-evident  truths? 
Progress  has  been  made  in  this  direction;  but  the  move- 
ment has  not  been  pronounced.  The  courts  would,  until 
recently,  only  countenance  the  limitation  of  the  working 
day  of  the  adult  male  engaged  in  particularly  unhealthful 
or  dangerous  occupations. 

-  Laws  regulating  the  hours  of  adult  labor  may  be  divided 
into  four  classes.  Over  one-half  of  the  states  and  the  federal 
government  have  passed  laws  fixing  the  working  day  for 
public  employees  at  eight  hours.  The  federal  statute  of 
1892  established  an  eight-hour  day  for  employees  on  all  gov- 
ernment work;  but  interpretation  by  the  courts  and  by  federal 
officials  was  to  the  effect  that  the  law  did  not  apply  to  govern- 
mental work  let  out  to  private  contractors.  The  act  of  191 2 
provided  that  an  eight-hour  clause  must  be  inserted  in  all 
contracts  made  by  the  federal  government  involving  the  work 
of  mechanics  or  laborers.^  Many  cities  have  eight-hour 
provisions  in  their  charters  or  have  enacted  eight-hour  or- 
dinances covering  municipal  work  of  various  kinds.  The 
second  class  of  laws  relate  to  employees  in  mines,  smelters, 
laundries,  and  other  more  or  less  dangerous  and  unhealthful 
occupations. 

»  A  few  exceptions  were  allowed  and  provisions  were  made  for  emergencies. 


PROTECTIVE  LEGISLATION   FOR   EMPLOYEES       355 

At  least  a  dozen  states  limit  the  hours  of  labor  in  mines  and 
smelters  to  eight  per  day.  Arizona  fixes  eight  hours  as  the 
maximum  length  of  the  working  day  in  laundries.  A  few 
states  limit  the  working  hours  of  clerks  in  drug  and  grocery 
stores.  New  York  and  New  Jersey  limit,  according  to  a 
sliding  scale,  the  maximum  working  hours  per  day  for  workers 
subjected  to  the  pressure  of  compressed  air  in  tunnels.  The 
higher  the  pressure  the  shorter  is  the  length  of  the  working 
day  legally  allowed.  A  majority  of  the  states  and  the  federal 
government  have  passed  legislation  regulating  the  hours  of 
labor  of  employees  on  railways  and  over  ten  states  have  passed 
similar  laws  in  regard  to  street  railway  employees.  These 
regulations  are  intended  primarily  to  protect  the  traveling 
public;  but  the  protection  of  the  employee  is  also  an  important 
consideration.  For  this  reason  and  because  the  railway 
business  is  quasi-public  in  character,  these  laws  constitute  a 
valid  exercise  of  the  police  power  of  the  state.  The  Adamson 
law  passed  by  Congress  in  191 6  in  order  to  prevent  a  railway 
strike,  established  eight  hours  as  the  basic  working  day  for 
railway  employees  engaged  in  interstate  traffic.  The  law 
has  acted  as  a  wage-fixing  device  rather  than  as  a  measure 
determining  the  actual  length  of  the  working  day.  Lastly, 
two  states,  Mississippi  and  Oregon,  have  passed  statutes 
b'miting  the  hours  of  adult  male  workers  to  ten  hours  per 
day  in  factory  emplojnnent.  Each  law  contains  a  clause 
granting  exceptions  in  cases  of  emergency.  The  Oregon 
act  provides  that  the  overtime  in  cases  of  emergency  may  not 
exceed  three  hours  and  shall  be  remunerated  at  the  rate  of 
"time  and  one-half."  This  statute  specifically  states  that  it 
was  passed  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  the  general  welfare. 
Several  states  have  passed  laws  determining  the  length  of  the 
working  day  in  ordinary  occupations  in  the  absence  of  a  special 
contract.  The  constitutionality  of  such  statutes  is  not  in 
doubt;  but  they  are  ineffectual. 


I 


^^56    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 


li 


'M 


In  order  that  the  real  status  of  protective  legislation  for 
adult  male  workers  may  be  definitely  presented,  a  brief 
statement  must  be  made  of  four  important  decisions  of  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court.  These  decisions  relate  to 
laws  limiting  the  working  hours  of  adult  male  workers  in 
specific  industries.  In  Atkins  vs.  The  People,^  October, 
1903,  the  Supreme  Court  sustained  the  right  of  a  state  to 
provide  by  statute  for  a  working  day  of  eight  hours  for  the 
employees  of  a  state,  a  county,  or  a  municipahty  within 
the  state.  The  law  may  relate  to  work  done  directly  for  the 
state,  or  indirectly  through  contractors.  This  decision  does 
not  rest  upon  an  enlargement  of  the  police  power  of  the 
state.  The  question  of  healthfulness  or  unhealthfulness  of 
a  particular  occupation  did  not  enter.  The  decision  rested 
upon  the  broad  basis  that  the  state  had  the  right  to 
prescribe  the  conditions  under  which  services  might  be 
performed  for  it. 

In  the  famous  case  of  Holden  vs.  Hardy  (the  Utah  eight- 
hour  case,  1898)  ^  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  upheld 
the  Utah  act  which  limited  the  length  of  employment  of 
workmen  in  all  underground  mining  work  to  eight  hours  per 
day,  except  in  cases  of  emergency.  The  right  to  leisure  in 
occupations  distinctly  dangerous  to  health  or  Hmb  was  recog- 
nized. Prior  to  this  decision  state  supreme  courts,  following 
the  1895  decision  of  the  Illinois  Supreme  Court,  had  held 
that  laws  limiting  the  working  hours  of  females,  and  conse- 
quently of  males,  were  in  contravention  of  the  fourteenth 
amendment  to  the  United  States  Constitution.  The  courts 
of  the  states  had  been  limiting  the  right  of  the  state  legis- 
latures to  pass  laws  protecting  employees.  The  Utah  case 
strengthened  the  power  of  the  state  legislatures.  However 
this  decision   is   not   binding   upon   state   courts;    and   the 

*  Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor,  llio.  50:  177-181. 

*  Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor ,  No.  17:  625-637. 


PROTECTIVE  LEGISLATION  FOR  EMPLOYEES      357 

Supreme  Courts  of  Colorado  and  Wyoming  have  annulled 
laws  somewhat  similar  to  the  Utah  law. 

In  the  case  of  Lochner  vs.  New  York  (the  bakers'  case)  ^ 
the  New  York  statute  forbidding  the  employment  of  wage 
earners  in  bakeries  and  confectionery  establishments  for 
more  than  ten  hours  daily  was  declared  null  and  void  by 
the  decision  of  five  judges;  four  dissented  from  the  majority 
opinion.  The  New  York  State  Supreme  Court  had,  by  a 
divided  decision,  upheld  the  law  as  a  reasonable  health  regu- 
lation, and,  therefore,  as  coming  within  the  police  power  of 
the  state.  The  adverse  decision  of  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court  seems  to  have  hinged  upon  the  question  as  to  the 
healthfulness  or  unhealthfulness  of  employment  in  bakeries. 
If  unheal thful,  the  matter  of  the  restriction  of  the  hours  of 
labor  came  within  the  legitimate  sphere  of  the  police  power 
of  the  state.  If  not  distinctly  unhealthful,  the  law  interfered 
with  the  freedom  of  contract.  In  this  case  the  majority  of 
the  court  decided  that  the  limit  had  been  passed.  It  seems 
quite  possible,  even  probable,  that  if  the  attorneys  for  the 
state  had  followed  the  course  later  taken  in  the  Oregon  case, 
if  they  had  presented  to  the  court  definite  and  concrete  facts 
and  statistics  in  regard  to  the  unhealthful  conditions  in  the 
baking  industry,  the  case  might  have  been  decided  differently. 

Finally,  in  April,  191 7,  the  Supreme  Court  upheld  the 
Oregon  law  limiting  the  hours  of  adult  factory  workers  to 
ten  per  day,  except  in  emergencies.^  The  clause  providing 
for  the  payment  of  wages  equal  to  time  and  one-half  in  case 
of  overtime  was  held  to  be  in  the  nature  of  a  mild  penalty 
for  employers  who  worked  their  men  longer  than  the  maximum 
specified  in  the  law.  The  Court  did  not  refer  to  the  bakers' 
case;  but  the  Supreme  Court  of  Mississippi  in  upholding  the 

*  Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor.    Nos.  57  and  59. 

'  Bunting  vs.  Oregon,  37,  Supreme  Court  Reporter,  p.  435;  Bulletin  of  Bureau 
of  Labor  Statistics,  No.  224,  p.  160. 


i\ 


IF 


IP 


I 

<  1 


358    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

Mississippi  ten-hour  law  held  that  the  decision  in  the  bakers' 
case  did  not  apply  because  the  New  York  law  made  no  pro- 
visions for  emergencies.  The  Mississippi  law,  like  the  Oregon 
act,  made  such  provisions.^ 

From  these  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  the  following  conclusions  may  be  drawn  in  regard  to 
the  constitutionality  of  laws  limiting  the  length  of  the  working 
of  adult  employees:  —  (i)  The  state  legislature  may  determine 
the  length  of  the  working  day  in  the  case  of  work  done  directly 
or  through  contractors  for  the  state,  county  or  municipality. 
(2)  As  a  health  measure,  the  state  legislature  may  Umit  the 
working  day  in  any  occupation,  providing,  at  least,  that  ex- 
ceptions are  made  in  case  of  emergencies.  The  attitude  of 
organized  labor  is  unfavorable  to  legislation  limiting  the 
working  day  of  adults.  Unionists  are  in  favor  of  getting  a 
shorter  working  day  by  union  action  rather  than  by  the  de- 
cree of  a  state  legislature.  Therefore,  it  seems  not  improb- 
able that  few  laws  limiting  the  length  of  the  working  day 
will  be  passed  in  industrial  states,  —  although  it  now  appears 
quite  clear  that  such  laws  will  run  the  gauntlet  of  the 
courts.^ 

Effective  laws  providing  for  one  day  of  rest  in  every  seven 
are  on  the  statute  books  of  at  least  two  states,  Massachusetts 
and  New  York.  A  few  more  states  have  poorly  drawn  laws 
of  the  same  import.  Such  laws  allow  the  continuous  oper- 
ation of  certain  industries  which  Sunday-rest  laws  would  not 
permit.  "Until  191 5  the  American  seaman  was  kept  in  a 
condition  of  semi-slavery  through  employment  under  a  con- 
tract which  was  enforceable  by  imprisonment."  After  a 
long  agitation,  Congress  in  191 5  passed  an  act  which  allows 
seamen  to  leave  a  vessel  when  a  safe  port  is  reached  and 
abolishes  the  danger  of  imprisonment  for  leaving  the  ship. 

*  Bulletin  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.    No.  112,  pp.  112  fif. 
2  Carlton,  Organized  Labor  in  American  History,  pp.  253-265, 


PROTECTIVE  LEGISLATION  FOR  EMPLOYEES      359 

The  act  also  provided  for  better  working  and  living  conditions 
on  board  American  vessels.^ 

A  variety  of  laws  for  the  purpose  of  giving  labor  relief  from 
harmful  coercion  on  the  part  of  the  employer  have  filled  the 
statute  books  of  our  states.  Laws  providing  for  weekly 
or  semi-monthly  payment  of  wages,  and  laws  prohibiting 
enforced  dealing  at  company  stores  and  the  truck  payment 
of  wages,  have  been  passed  in  various  states.  In  many  cases 
these  laws  have  been  declared  unconstitutional.  If  the  law 
is  general  in  its  application,  the  courts  rule  that  it  interferes 
with  freedom  of  contract.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  law 
applies  to  particular  industries,  it  is  ruled  out  as  special 
legislation.  Evidently  trade-union,  rather  than  legislative, 
action  must  be  relied  upon  in  regard  to  these  measures. 
Nearly  all  states  make  the  wage  earner  a  preferred  creditor, 
and  also  exempt  his  wages,  to  the  amount  of  $50  or  $icx), 
or  to  one  month's  earnings,  from  attachment  for  debt. 

A  score  or  more  of  states  have  passed  laws  for  the  purpose 
of  preventing  discrimination  against  union  men  either  in 
regard  to  employment  or  discharge.  As  a  rule,  such  laws 
have  been  held  to  be  unconstitutional.  A  United  States 
statute  which  declared  it  unlawful  for  interstate  carriers  to 
discharge  employees  because  of  membership  in  a  union  was 
held  to  be  null  and  void  by  the  United  States  Supreme  Court. 
"Congress  could  not,  consistently  with  the  Fifth  Amend- 
ment," said  the  court,  "make  it  a  crime  against  the  United 
States  to  discharge  the  employee  because  of  his  being  a 
member  of  a  labor  organization."  Six  judges  concurred,  two 
dissented,  and  one  did  not  participate  in  the  decision.  A 
point  made  in  the  dissenting  opinion  of  Justice  Holmes  is 
worthy  of  notice  as  indicating  the  possibility  of  a  modifica- 
tion in  judicial  opinion.    The  Justice  said  he  could  "not 

»  Andrews,  Labor  Problems  and  Labor  Legislation,  pp.  79-80.     Pamphlet, 
1919. 


)■  / 


-— 


II 


Ir 


wm 


!i 


^^ 


360    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

pronounce  it  unwarranted  if  Congress  should  decide  that  to 
foster  a  strong  union  was  for  the  best  interest,  not  only  of  the 
men,  but  of  the  railroads  and  the  country  at  large."  This 
clearly  foreshadows  an  important  extension  of  the  police 
power.^  However,  seven  years  later,  in  191 5,  the  Supreme 
Court  held  unconstitutional  a  Kansas  statute  which  declared 
that  an  employer  might  not  lawfully  require  an  employee 
not  to  join  a  labor  organization  during  his  term  of  service. 
The  act  was  held  to  be  an  unwarranted  interference  with  the 
freedom  of  contract. 

As  was  foreshadowed  in  a  preceding  section,  the  conclusion 
to  be  drawn  from  this  brief  study  of  the  judicial  attitude 
toward  labor  legislation  is  that  in  the  future  broad  social  and 
racial  considerations  rather  than  narrow  legal  technicalities 
will  be  of  greatest  importance  in  weighing  the  merits  and 
demerits  of  labor  legislation.  The  crucial  question  will  not 
be,  —  Does  a  given  piece  of  legislation  interfere  with  the 
traditional  freedom  of  contract?  It  will  be,  —  Does  or  does 
not  the  law  under  consideration  tend  to  improve  the  health, 
stamina,  and  efficiency  of  workers,  present  and  future?  This 
is  a  fairly  definite  criterion.  Careful  studies  of  industrial 
accidents,  of  industrial  hygiene,  and  of  the  efficiency  of 
workers  under  different  working  conditions  are  needed;  and 
the  testimony  should  be  furnished  by  the  medical  and  eco- 
nomic experts  and  by  the  student  of  comparative  legislation. 
Accurate,  uncolored,  and  widely  disseminated  information 
as  to  present  day  conditions  is  demanded. 

Employers'  Liability.  The  common  law  relating  to  em- 
ployers' liability  developed  before  the  workingmen  were 
granted  the  ballot  and  while  industry  was  still  in  a  simple 
and  decentralized  form.  According  to  the  common  law  doc- 
trine the  determination  of  the  liability  for  accidents  in  indus- 
try centers  around  the  problem  of  fixing  the  responsibility 

*  For  a  discussion  of  decisions,  see  Groat,  Vale  Review.  Vol.  19:  144-158. 


PROTECTIVE  LEGISLATION   FOR   EMPLOYEES      361 

for  injury  upon  some  definite  individual,  —  the  injured  work- 
man himself,  a  fellow  worker,  or  the  employer.  It  is  grounded 
upon  the  individualism  of  the  eighteenth  century.  This  doc- 
trine may  not  have  been  palpably  unfair  to  the  employee  in 
the  days  of  the  small  shop  and  of  the  hand  tool,  but  in  the 
era  of  factories  and  railways,  and  of  complicated  and  articu- 
lated machinery,  the  common  law  doctrine  of  employers' 
liability  fails  to  deal  adequately  and  justly  with  *the  injured 
worker  and  his  family.  European  countries  have  rejected 
this  individualistic  viewpoint  and  policy;  there  occupational 
risk  is  pushed  into  the  foreground.  American  legislators  and 
jurists  have  emphasized  the  rights  of  property;  European 
lawmakers  have  been  converted  to  the  social  point  of  view. 
European  laws  do  not  attempt  to  seek  out  and  penalize  the 
negligent  individual;  payment  for  injuries  received  by  work- 
men is  made  a  part  of  the  ordinary  cost  of  doing  business. 
The  compensation  system,  which  has  been  quite  generally 
adopted  in  European  countries,  awards  a  definite  sum  for 
injuries  for  which  the  occupation  is  primarily  responsible. 
Litigation  and  uncertainty  are  avoided.  If,  however,  the 
employer  has  been  grossly  negligent,  it  may  be  provided  that 
damages  may  also  be  secured;  or,  if  the  employee  was  wilfully 
careless,  that  no  compensation  be  allowed. 

Under  the  common  law  the  employer  is  required  to  pro- 
vide "reasonably"  safe  machinery  placed  in  a  ''reasonably" 
safe  workshop  and  operated  by  "reasonably"  careful  work- 
men. In  short,  the  employer  must  exercise  "ordinary  care." 
The  employer  is  held  to  be  responsible  for  the  injury  of  a 
workman  only  in  case  he  or  his  vice-principal  has  been  guilty 
of  negligence.  But  employers  are  not  considered  to  be  re- 
sponsible for  the  danger  connected  with  the  occupation;  the 
occupational  risk  is  held  to  be  assumed  by  the  worker  upon 
entering  the  service  of  his  employer.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  injured  employee  finds  it  difficult  to  compel  the  employer 


li 


li 


?■  \ 


I'l 

1 


M 


362    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

to  pay  adequate  compensation  in  a  large  percentage  of  cases. 
Three  important  defenses  complicate  the  matter  and  weaken 
the  case  of  the  former,  —  the  fellow  servant  doctrine,  the 
doctrine  of  contributory  negligence,  and  the  doctrine  of  the 
assumption  of  risk.  By  appeal  to  one  or  more  of  these 
defenses,  the  burden  is  often  placed  upon  the  shoulders  of  the 
worker  and  his  family  instead  of  becoming  one  of  the  expenses 
of  the  business. 

The  fellow  servant  doctrine  was  not  early  introduced  into 
English  and  American  law;    it  is  not  found  in  other  legal 
systems.    According  to  this  doctrine  the  employer  is  released 
from  his  liability  for  the  negligence  of  his  agent,  provided  the 
injured  worker  is  a  fellow  employee.     In  case  of  a  small 
employer  or  a  small  workshop  it  was  not  difficult  to  de- 
termine what  constitutes  common  employment;  but  in  large 
industries  the  matter  is  not  simple.    Are  the  locomotive  engi- 
neer and  the  switchmen  fellow  servants?    Are  the  man  who 
operates  the  elevator  and  the  tool-maker  fellow  servants? 
Theoretically,  relieving  the  employer  from  responsibility  for 
the  negligence  of  a  co-worker  is  supposed  to  prevent  accidents 
due  to  the  carelessness  of  fellow  servants.      The  worker  in 
the  small  shop  could  demand  and  obtain  the  elimination  of 
the  careless  fellow  worker;    but  in  large-scale  industry  an 
employee  may  be  injured  as  the  result  of  the  negligence  of 
another  employee  who  may  be  unknown  to  the  injured  per- 
son.   Yet,  under  a  strict  interpretation  of  the  law  these  men 
may  be  judged  to  be  fellow  servants.     The  locomotive  engi- 
neer has  practically  no  means  of  ascertaining  as  to  the  care- 
fulness or  the  carelessness  of  a  given  switchman;  yet  the  life 
of  the  former  may  frequently  depend  upon  the  efficiency 
of  the  switchman.     Again,  an  injury  may  be  due  to  the 
carelessness  of  fellow  servants;  but  it  may  be  impracticable  to 
trace  such  carelessness  to  any  one  individual.    Lastly,  even 
if  the  responsibility  for  an  injury  can  be  definitely  traced  to  a 


PROTECTIVE  LEGISLATION   FOR  EMPLOYEES       363 

fellow  worker,  the  legal  right  to  hold  such  responsible  person 
is  of  little  or  no  practical  importance.  Wage  workers  are 
often  financially  irresponsible.  The  net  result  of  the  fellow 
servant  defense  is  to  place  the  burden  upon  the  injured  man 
and  his  family  in  many  cases  where  he  has  not  been  negligent. 
The  courts  have,  in  certain  instances,  manifested  a  tendency 
to  modify  the  fellow  servant  defense  by  introducing  what  has 
been  called  *Hhe  departmental  doctrine."  An  attempt  is 
made  to  stretch  the  law  to  fit  modern  industrial  conditions  by 
classifying  employees.  According  to  this  doctrine  employees 
in  different  departments  of  a  large  industry  are  not  considered 
as  fellow  servants  in  the  legal  sense.  Here  again  the  difficulty 
of  drawing  a  sharp  line  of  demarcation  often  appears. 

The  doctrine  of  contributory  negligence  places  all  the  legal 
responsibihty  for  an  injury  upon  the  disabled  person  if  that 
person  is  partially  to  blame  for  the  accident.  I|i  a  few  cases 
the  courts  have  attempted  to  remedy  the  evident  injustice 
of  this  defense  by  formulating  a  doctrine  of  comparative 
negligence.  In  such  cases  the  court  has  tried  to  equitably 
apportion  the  responsibility  for  an  accident. 

The  courts  are  inclined  to  assume  that  the  employee  has 
fairly  definite  knowledge  of  the  ordinary  risks  in  his  particular 
trade  or  occupation;  consequently,  it  is  frequently  held  that 
the  worker  assumes  the  occupational  risk  connected  with  his 
work.  Again,  notwithstanding  laws  requiring  the  employers 
of  labor  to  provide  a  safe  workshop,  and  tools  and  machines 
which  are  not  defective,  some  courts  have  held  that  if  the 
employee  knew  of  negligence  or  of  defects  in  the  machinery 
or  tools  used  by  him,  and  did  not  notify  his  superiors  of  such 
negligence  or  defects,  he  could  not  hold  the  employer  respon- 
sible for  injuries  received.  Furthermore,  if  the  employee  did 
call  the  attention  of  his  employer  to  the  defect  and  the  latter 
neglected  to  remedy  it,  continuance  at  work  has  been  con- 
sidered by  some  courts  as  evidence  of  the  assumption  of  the 


I 


if 


P| 


364    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

risk.  Under  the  unmodified  common  law  a  workman  might 
sign,  under  pressure  of  the  necessity  of  obtaining  a  job,  a 
legally  valid  contract  releasing  the  employer  from  all  respon- 
sibility for  accidents.  In  the  case  of  a  mining  company  each 
employee  is  expected  to  sign  a  contract  stating  that  he  is  a 
"thoroughly  competent  and  experienced  workman, '^  in  the 
line  of  work  in  which  he  is  engaged.  The  worker  agrees  to 
carefully  examine  practically  all  the  equipment  and  appur- 
tenances of  the  mine  before  exposing  himself  to  the  danger  of 
mining.  In  order  to  live  up  to  the  terms  of  this  contract  it 
would  be  necessary  for  each  worker  to  spend  no  inconsiderable 
amount  of  time  each  working  day  in  ascertaining  the  exact 
condition  of  the  equipment  of  the  mine;  and,  if  he  did  attempt 
to  carry  out  his  part  of  the  agreement,  doubtless  his  discharge 
would  follow.  Court  decisions  as  to  the  legality  of  "con- 
tracting out"  are  somewhat  conflicting.  The  Supreme  Court 
of  the  District  of  Columbia  ^  has  clearly  recognized  the  right 
of  the  legislative  branch  of  government  to  declare  null  and 
void  contracts  in  which  the  employee  gives  up  his  right  to 
sue  his  employer  for  damages  in  case  of  accident.  In  this 
interesting  decision  the  court  recognized  the  potency  of  the 
economic  pressure  —  the  necessity  of  getting  and  keeping  a 
job  —  which  led  workmen  to  sign  away  their  rights  to  indem- 
nity. The  court  intimated  that  "a  poor  and  overworked 
class"  should  not  be  "permitted  to  barter  away  its  rights  in 
advance  as  the  mere  price  of  an  opportunity  to  work."  The 
court  also  asserted  that  "the  supposition  is  that  the  employee 
assents  to  the  contract  under  the  stress  of  his  situation  by 
reason  of  his  necessity  to  secure  employment."  The  court 
in  this  decision  took  advanced  grounds  and  displayed  an 
adequate  comprehension  of  the  pressure  which  often  forces 
workmen  to  accept  conditions  detrimental  to  their  best 
interests  and  to  the  interests  of  society.    Legal  restriction 

*  Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor.    No.  81,  p.  412. 

\ 


i  i 


PROTECTIVE  LEGISLATION   FOR   EMPLOYEES      365 

was  recognized  by  the  court  as  leading  toward  practical  and 
tangible  freedom  through  the  removal  of  economic  pressure. 

Under  the  system  of  employers'  liability,  unless  an  agree- 
ment can  be  reached  out  of  court,  the  only  recourse  left  the 
injured  workman  is  to  bring  suit  against  his  employer.  In 
either  case  the  employee  is  at  a  disadvantage.  His  immediate 
necessities  are  pressing,  and  the  ultimate  outcome  of  a  law- 
suit is  very  uncertain.  With  the  enlargement  of  the  indus- 
trial unit  and  the  consequent  disappearance  of  the  personal 
nexus  between  the  employer  and  the  employee,  injuries  to 
employees  became  more  frequent  and  "enterprising  lawyers 
who  had  no  regard  for  the  traditions  of  the  profession  began 
to  promote  law  suits  by  the  injured  parties  upon  an  agreement 
for  fees  contingent  on  success."  On  the  other  hand,  the 
harassed  employer  soon  found  relief  from  recurrent  litigation 
by  insuring  in  liability  insurance  companies.  For  a  definite 
annual  payment  the  burden  of  defending  suits  in  injury  cases 
was  shouldered  by  the  liability  company;  this  company  also 
assumed  the  responsibility  for  all  payments  made  to  the 
injured  employees.  Skilled  lawyers  were  employed  for  the 
purpose  of  defending  the  company.  Thus  another  link  was 
added  in  the  chain  between  the  injured  workers  and  the 
parties  responsible  for  the  payment  of  damages.  The  in- 
surance companies  are  organized  for  profit;  success  for  the 
officers  and  lawyers  means  little  or  no  compensation  for 
the  injured  employees  of  the  insuring  industrial  corporation. 
Under  the  liability  system  it  is  customary  for  employers 
to  insure  against  damages  in  case  of  accidents  which  tem- 
porarily or  permanently  disable  any  of  their  employees. 

The  system  of  employers'  liability  did  not  work  to  the 
satisfaction  of  either  the  employer  or  the  employee,  (i)  The 
system  is  not  effective  in  reducing  the  number  of  accidents. 
(2)  It  is  often  difficult  to  prove  negligence  when  negligence 
was  actually  the  cause  of  the  accident.     (3)  Legal  redress 


I 


il» 


itl: 


i ' 


¥' 


U 


I 


ll 


^1 

I 


f^pi 


366    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

is  expensive,  uncertain  and,  when  obtained,  often  long  de- 
layed and  inadequate.  A  large  percentage  of  the  cost  of  the 
system  to  the  employer  is  absorbed  by  lawyers  and  insurance 
companies;  only  a  small  fraction  of  the  total  cost  to  the  em- 
ployer reaches  the  injured  worker  and  his  family.  (4)  The 
employers'  liabihty  system  tends  to  increase  the  friction 
between  employers  and  employees.  The  lawyers  of  the 
liability  company  frequently  use  all  available  means  to  brow- 
beat and  defeat  the  injured  employee;  and  the  latter  in- 
evitably feels  that  this  employer  is  responsible.  Because  of 
these  defects,  the  employers'  liability  system  is  rapidly 
being  displaced  in  the  United  States  by  workingmen's  com- 
pensation. 

Workingmen's  Compensation  Acts,  The  United  States  had 
the  unenviable  distinction  of  adhering  to  the  theory  of  em- 
ployers' liability  after  nearly  every  other  important  industrial 
country  had  adopted  some  definite  system  of  compensation 
for  accidents  to  employees.  For  years  we  stretched  and 
patched  our  antiquated  scheme  of  employers'  liability,  but 
it  proved  to  be  a  vain  endeavor.  The  system  was  inadequate, 
unjust,  uneconomical,  and  it  did  not  tend  to  reduce  the 
frequency  of  industrial  accidents.  By  the  end  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  most  of  the  European  countries  had  passed 
compensation  acts.  In  addition  to  definite  and  certain 
compensation  in  case  of  accidents,  provision  had  also  been 
made  before  the  opening  of  the  Great  War  in  19 14,  in  all 
important  industrial  nations  of  Europe  for  health  insurance; 
and  several  countries  provided  for  old  age  pensions.  During 
the  first  decade  of  the  century,  public  opinion  in  the  United 
States  rapidly  crystallized  in  favor  of  the  adoption  of  a  system 
of  workingmen's  compensation.  Official  commissions,  un- 
official organizations,  and  students  of  social  and  industrial 
problems  investigated.  The  American  Association  for  Labor 
Legislation  opened  a  vigorous  campaign  in  favor  of  the  coni- 


PROTECTIVE   LEGISLATION   FOR   EMPLOYEES       367 

pensation  system.  At  first  organized  labor  was  somewhat 
skeptical  about  the  merits  of  the  system;  and  many  business 
men  were  afraid  of  the  disastrous  effects  of  added  business 
expenses. 

In  1902,  Maryland  passed  the  first  American  workingmen's 
compensation  law;  the  bill  was  badly  drawn.  It  was  soon 
declared  unconstitutional;  but  the  court  did  not  consider  the 
legal  merits  or  demerits  of  a  system  of  compensation  for 
industrial  accidents.  In  1906,  the  United  States  PhiUppme 
Commission  enacted  a  compensation  law  applicable  to  em- 
ployees of  the  insular  government.  Wages  were  continued 
during  disability  because  of  injuries  for  a  period  not  exceeding 
ninety  days.  In  1908,  Congress  passed  a  compensation  act 
which  applied  to  "artizans  and  laborers  employed  by  the 
Um'ted  States  government  in  any  of  its  manufacturing  estab- 
lishments, arsenals  or  navy-yards,  or  in  the  construction  of 
river  or  harbor  or  fortification  work,  or  in  hazardous  employ- 
ment on  construction  work  in  the  reclamation  of  arid  lands 
or  the  management  or  control  of  the  same,  or  in  hazardous 
employment  under  the  Isthmian  Canal  Commission."  This 
narrow  law  was  extended  in  its  scope  by  subsequent  modi- 
fications; but  it  applied  only  to  about  one-fourth  of  the 
government's  civilian  employees.  In  19 16,  it  was  super- 
seded by  a  well-drawn  law  covering  the  civilian  employees  of 
the  federal  government.  In  1909,  the  state  of  Montana 
passed  a  crude  compensation  act  to  cover  injuries  received 
by  workers  in  coal  mines.  This  law  was  declared  imcon- 
stitutional  on  technical  grounds.  On  September  i,  19 10, 
a  compulsory  act  went  into  effect  in  New  York.  This  law 
applied  to  a  specified  number  of  hazardous  employments. 
In  March,  191 1,  this  act  was  declared  imconstitutional  by 
the  New  York  Court  of  Appeals. 

The  first  permanent  compensation  acts  became  effective 
in  191 1.    In  that  year  compensation  acts  were  placed  on  the 


\ 


n 

'    ^  1 

11 


I 


I'- 


m 


I! 


HllM 


368    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

statute  books  of  California,  New  Jersey,  Washington  and 
Wisconsin.  After  191 1,  the  enactment  of  such  legislation 
was  rapid;  the  compensation  system  apparently  soon  proved 
its  desirability  in  actual  practice.  In  January,  1920,  forty- 
two  states  and  the  territories  of  Alaska,  Hawaii  and  Porto 
Rico  had  workingmen's  compensation  laws  in  force;  and  the 
federal  government  protected  all  civilian  employees  of  the 
United  States.  The  six  states  which  still  cling  to  the  anti- 
quated employers'  system,  described  in  the  preceding  section, 
are:  — Arkansas,  Florida,  Mississippi,  North  Carolina  and 
South  Carolina.  These  six  states  are  southern  states  without 
considerable  industrial  development.  The  District  of  Colum- 
bia is  also  without  a  compensation  law. 

The  advantages  of  the  compensation  system  for  industrial 
accidents  are  practically  the  obverse  of  the  disadvantages  of 
the  system  of  employers'  liability.  A  good  system  (i)  should 
guarantee,  without  the  taint  of  charity,  prompt  and  adequate 
compensation  for  injuries  ;  (2)  it  should  reduce  the  number  of 
preventable  accidents;  ^3)  resort  to  the  courts  should  be 
eliminated;  (4)  the  extent  of  the  employers'  liabihty  should 
be  very  definitely  fixed  so  that  the  probable  expense  can  be 
estimated  with  a  fair  degree  of  accuracy;  (5)  a  contract 
waiving  the  right  to  receive  compensation  should  be  null  and 
void;  (6)  the  system  should  be  carefully  supervised  by 
competent  officials;  and  (7)  provision  should  be  made  for 
re-training  such  workers  as  have  been  crippled  by  industrial 

accidents. 

Under  the  old  liability  system,  some  individual  was  as- 
sumed to  be  responsible  for  each  and  every  accident,  —  the 
employer,  a  fellow  workman,  or  the  injured  person.  Under 
workingmen's  compensation,  the  burden  of  economic  com- 
pensation in  case  of  accident  is  placed,  like  fire  insurance, 
among  the  expenses  of  business  operation.  This  burden  is 
reduced  as  the  accident  rate  is  lowered  by  the  increased  use 


PROTECTIVE  LEGISLATION   FOR   EMPLOYEES       369 

of  safety  devices  and  the  greater  emphasis  upon  carefulness. 
The  prime  test  of  a  workingmen's  compensation  law  is  found 
in  the  reduction  in  the  number  of  preventable  accidents. 
The  American  people  have  been  famous  for  inventions  which 
increase  output  and  "save  labor";  but  Americans  have  not 
ranked  high  as  inventors  of  life  and  limb  saving  devices. 
There  is  good  reason  for  asserting  that  the  emphasis  upon 
*' safety  first"  is  the  fruit  of  workingmen's  compensation 
legislation.  A  system  of  compensation  for  accidents  makes  it 
profitable  to  be  humane  and  to  protect  employees;  the  old 
system  of  employers'  liability,  with  its  burden  of  legal  tech- 
nicalities, often  made  it  seem  profitable  to  be  cruel,  and 
careless  and  wasteful  of  human  life  and  limb.  Under  an 
adequate  workingmen's  compensation  law,  the  firm  having 
more  accidents  than  its  competitors  will  have  an  extra  expense 
to  bear.  Such  legislation  is  scientific;  it  is  far  better  than 
coercive  laws  which  aim  to  force  the  use  of  safety  appliances 
by  means  of  legal  penalties. 

The  constitutionality  of  a  compulsory  workingmen's  com- 
pensation act  was  definitely  established  in  two  decisions 
rendered  by  the  federal  Supreme  Court  on  March  6,  191 7. 
In  the  first  decision  upholding  the  constitutionality  of  the 
New  York  compensation  act  of  19 14,  the  Court  held:  —  "It 
is  plain  that,  on  grounds  of  natural  justice,  it  is  not  unreason- 
able for  the  State,  while  relieving  the  employer  from  responsi- 
bihty  for  damages  measured  by  the  common-law  standards 
and  payable  in  cases  where  he  or  those  for  whose  conduct 
he  is  answerable  are  found  to  be  at  fault,  to  require  him  to 
contribute  a  reasonable  amount,  and  according  to  a  reasonable 
and  definite  scale,  by  way  of  compensation  for  the  loss  of 
earning  power  incurred  in  the  common  enterprise,  irre- 
spective of  the  question  of  negligence,  instead  of  leaving  the 
entire  loss  to  rest  where  it  may  chance  to  fall  —  that  is  upon 
the  injured  employee  or  his   dependents."    In  the  second 


i 


m'. 


n 


I 


370    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

decision  in  regard  to  the  Washington  act  the  Court  indicated 
clearly  that  it  was  of  the  opinion  that  compulsory  compen- 
sation acts  constitute  reasonable  extensions  of  the  police 
power.^ 

In  approximately  two-thirds  of  the  states  which  have 
adopted  compensation  plans,  the  laws  are  optional  or  elective, 
not  compulsory.  After  the  decision  handed  down  by  the 
New  York  Court  of  Appeals  in  1911,  declaring  the  first  New 
York  compulsory  compensation  act  unconstitutional  there 
was  much  hesitancy  over  the  enactment  of  compulsory  laws. 
The  elective  laws  usually  contain  clauses  which  are  intended 
to  induce  employers  to  come  under  the  provisions  of  the 
acts.  The  usual  method  is  to  deprive  the  employer,  refusing 
or  neglecting  to  accept  the  provisions  of  the  law,  of  the  de- 
fenses which  have  figured  so  prominently  in  the  cases  tried 
under  the  employers'  liability  laws,  namely,  the  fellow  servant 
doctrine,  the  doctrine  of  contributory  negligence,  and  that  of 
assumption  of  risk.  On  the  other  hand,  if  a  worker,  employed 
by  a  firm  accepting  the  provisions  of  the  elective  compen- 
sation act,  demands  exemption  from  its  provision,  the  com- 
pany will  be  allowed  to  use  these  three  common-law  defenses 
in  case  a  suit  is  brought  for  damages  under  the  old  employers' 
liability  law.  In  all  of  the  states,  except  Oregon,  the  actual 
compensation  costs  are  entirely  borne  by  the  employer; 
the  states,  however,  pay  part  at  least  of  the  expenses  of 
administering  the  acts.  In  Oregon,  the  State  pays  an  amount 
equal  to  one-seventh  of  the  premium  paid  by  the  employer, 
into  a  state  fund;  and  each  employee  covered  by  the  act  also 
contributes  one  cent  per  day  employed. 

The  compensation  laws  enacted  by  the  various  states  difTer 
greatly  in  regard  to  the  benefits  provided,  the  number  of 
workmen  covered  by  the  legislation,  the  waiting  period,  the 
provisions  for  payment  of  the  compensation  award,  and  the 

»  Bulletin  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  No.  224,  pp.  232  flf.  and  252  flf. 


PROTECTIVE   LEGISLATION   FOR  EMPLOYEES      371 

administration  of  the  system.  In  all  except  three  states 
the  amount  of  cash  compensation  is  based  upon  the  weekly 
wages  paid.  Certain  states,  however,  provide  for  lump-sum 
payments  for  specified  injuries.  As  a  rule  a  fixed  percentage 
of  the  wage  received  is  allowed  for  all  injuries.  In  case  of 
permanent  or  partial  disability  or  death,  the  percentages 
vary  from  fifty  in  eighteen  states  to  sixty-six  and  two-thirds 
in  eight  states  and  in  the  case  of  the  federal  law.  For  per- 
manent disability,  eighteen  states  and  the  federal  government 
provide  for  payment  of  benefits  during  the  life  of  the  injured 
worker.  Other  laws  fix  a  maximum  number  of  weeks  durins: 
which  payments  shall  be  made.  The  majority  of  the  states 
provide  for  greater  benefits  in  case  of  permanent  total  dis- 
ability than  in  the  case  of  a  fatal  accident.  It  is  recognized 
that  the  family  would  suffer  a  greater  economic  loss  if  the 
breadwinner  were  permanently  disabled  than  it  does  if  he 
were  killed  outright.  Provisions  are  also  made  for  medical 
aid  in  addition  to  cash  benefits. 

The  coverage  or  percentage  of  the  entire  number  of  workers 
given  the  protection  of  the  compensation  laws  varies  greatly, 
from  99.8  per  cent  in  New  Jersey  and  92.6  per  cent  in  Hawaii 
to  only  30.7  per  cent  in  New  Mexico  and  20.5  per  cent  in 
Porto  Rico.  In  some  states  the  legislation  only  covers  so- 
called  "hazardous"  occupations;  employers  hiring  less  than 
three  or  five  workers  are  usually  not  subject  to  the  provisions 
of  the  acts;  casual  workers,  domestic  servants,  and  farm 
laborers  are  also  as  a  rule  not  given  the  protection  of  the  com- 
pensation laws.  New  Jersey  is  the  only  state  which  gives 
domestic  servants  the  protection  of  a  compensation  law;  and 
all  states,  except  New  Jersey  and  Hawaii,  exclude  farm 
laborers.  The  employees  of  interstate  railways  are  also  in 
the  excluded  classes.  It  has  been  estimated  recently  that 
at  least  7,400,000  employees  in  the  compensation  states 
are  not  covered  by  the  acts;  of  this  number  about  1,250,000 


if 


'^'^ 


m 


I 


i 


I 


it 


372 


HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 


are  railway  employees.'  Evidently  there  is  much  need  of 
greater  uniformity  in  compensation  legislation.  Surely  in- 
juries in  less  hazardous  employment  and  in  small  shops  may 
cause  as  much  physical  suffering  and  as  much  economic  dis- 
tress as  in  hazardous  or  large-scale  industries;  and  certainly 
it  is  desirable  that  the  frequency  of  accidents  should  be  re- 
duced in  all  kinds  of  industries.  The  coverage  provisions 
that  have  been  incorporated  in  the  New  Jersey  statute  should 
be  adopted  in  other  states. 

The  compensation  laws,  except  in  Oregon  and  Porto  Rico, 
provide  for  a  "waiting  period"  after  the  accident  during 
which  time  no  compensation  is  paid.  In  twenty-two  states, 
this  period  is  one  week,  and  in  thirteen  it  is  two  weeks.  How- 
ever, in  twenty-one  states  the  waiting  period  is  eliminated 
if  the  disability  extends  beyond  a  specified  length.  The 
length  of  the  waiting  period  should  not  be  over  one  week. 
Four  different  methods  are  used  in  carrying  the  insurance 
provided  under  compensation  laws:  a  state  fund  into  which 
employers  pay  the  required  premiums;  insurance  in  a  private 
insurance  company;  insurance  in  a  mutual  insurance  com- 
pany; or  the  risk  may  be  carried  by  the  employing  company. 
Seventeen  states  provide  for  a  state  fund;  in  eight  of  these 
states  (minor  exceptions  in  two)  the  state  fund  is  exclusive 
of  other  methods.  The  Michigan  law  provides  that  any  one 
of  the  four  may  be  selected.  In  191 5,  of  the  employing  com- 
panies covered  by  the  law,  88.2  per  cent  insured  in  a  stock 
company;  5.1  per  cent  in  a  mutual  company;  3.7  per  cent 
in  the  state  fund;  and  3  per  cent  carried  their  own  risk. 
The  companies  carrying  their  own  risk  employed  31.2  per 
cent  of  all  the  employees  covered  in  the  State.  A  responsible 
administrative  body  should  be  organized  to  see  that  the  in- 
jured worker  and  his  family  receive  the  payments  provided  for 
in  the  law,  that  these  payments  are  paid  promptly,  and  that 

*  Fisher,  American  Economic  Review,  March,  1920,  p.  46.    Vol.  10. 


PROTECTIVE  LEGISLATION  FOR  EMPLOYEES      373 

the  necessity  of  litigation  is  removed.    In  ten  states,  however, 
no  provision  is  made  for  such  an  administrative  body.^ 

The  chief  weaknesses  of  the  compensation  laws  of  American 
states  are  lack  of  uniformity,  insufficient  coverage,  failure  to- 
include  disability  resulting  from  industrial  or  occupational 
diseases,  and  the  lack  of  provision  for  vocational  re-education 
of  disabled  workers.  The  first  two  weaknesses  have  been 
briefly  discussed,  and  the  attention  will  now  be  directed 
only  to  the  third  and  fourth.  Industrial  diseases  result  from 
sudden  changes  of  temperature  in  such  plants  as  glass  or  iron 
and  steel  factories,  extreme  humidity  of  the  shop  atmosphere, 
abnormal  air  pressure,  industrial  poisons  as  in  lead-working 
plants,  and  dust  as  in  stone  cutting  or  in  the  use  of  emery 
wheels.  An  industrial  disease  b  as  certainly  an  industrial 
hazard  as  an  mdustrial  accident.  The  former  is  produced 
by  small,  oft-repeated,  unnoticed  injuries;  the  latter  is  more 
spectacular  and  is  the  result  of  one  definite  injury.  The 
danger  of  contracting  industrial  disease  is,  however,  an 
occupational  risk;  and  this  risk  may  be  reduced  by  preventive 
measures.  All  of  the  arguments  in  favor  of  a  compensation 
law  for  industrial  accidents  may  logically  be  used  in  arguing 
for  the  coverage  of  industrial  diseases.  Five  states,  Hawaii 
and  the  United  States  government  have  compensation  laws 
which  cover  industrial  diseases.  Up  to  date  (1920)  very  little 
has  been  done  toward  evolving  an  adequate  plan  of  rehabili- 
tating industrial  cripples.  Compensation  is  not  enough;  it  is 
highly  desirable  from  the  point  of  view  of  society,  as  well  as 
that  of  the  injured  worker  and  his  family,  that  the  perma- 
nently injured  worker  be  so  treated  and  re-trained  as  to  allow 
him,  if  possible,  to  become  a  wage  worker  again.  It  may  be 
necessary  for  him  to  learn  a  new  trade  or  occupation.  The 
equipment,  with  necessary  additions,  for  rehabilitating  war 

*  For  a  brief  analysis  of  the  compensation  acts  of  American  states,  see 
Monthly  Labor  Review,  January  and  April,  1920. 


I 


P 


!i 


!| 


Vi 


I 


i 


N 


ii|i 


i  i 


374    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

cripples  might  be  utilized  for  the  re-training  of  crippled  in- 
dustrial workers. 

Health  Insurance  in  the  United  States.  In  19 14,  nearly  all 
of  the  indsutrial  countries  of  Europe  provided  for  some  form 
of  health  insurance  for  industrial  workers.  The  United 
States  having  neglected  to  adopt  any  form  of  health  insurance, 
was  placed  alongside  of  such  backward  countries  from  the 
industrial  point  of  view  as  Spain,  Portugal,  Italy,  Greece, 
Bulgaria,  Albania,  Montenegro  and  Turkey.  In  the  United 
States,  the  desirability  of  health  insurance  legislation  has 
been  urged  upon  several  state  legislatures.  At  least  eight 
states  have  had  official  commissions  investigating  the  sub- 
ject. In  1 9 19,  a  bill  was  introduced  into  the  state  legis- 
lature of  New  York  providing  for  health  insurance.  The 
principle  of  the  measure  was  endorsed  by  the  Governor,  and 
its  passage  was  urged  by  the  State  Federation  of  Labor, 
The  American  Association  for  Labor  Legislation,  the  Con- 
sumers' League,  and  other  organizations.  The  bill  pro- 
vided for  medical  and  surgical  treatment,  medicine  and 
appliances  for  twenty-six  weeks  a  year,  for  dental  care,  and 
for  a  cash  benefit  for  twenty-six  weeks  a  year  equal  to  two- 
thirds  of  the  wages  received  by  the  insured  employee.  Work- 
ing women  were  also  to  be  allowed  a  special  maternity  benefit 
for  two  weeks  before  and  six  weeks  after  childbirth,  pro- 
vided they  did  not  work  during  such  time.  The  cost  of  the 
benefits  was  to  be  divided  equally  between  employer  and 
employee.  The  funds  were  to  be  administered  by  local 
mutual  organizations  supervised  by  state  officials. 

The  draft  of  a  standard  bill  for  compulsory  health  insurance 
prepared  for  the  American  Association  for  Labor  Legislation 
was  carefully  worked  out  and  subjected  to  detailed  criticism. 
This  proposed  piece  of  legislation  provides  that  forty  per 
cent  of  the  necessary  premiums  be  paid  by  the  insured 
employee,  forty  per  cent  by  the  employer,  and  the  remaining 


PROTECTIVE  LEGISLATION  FOR   EMPLOYEES       375 

twenty  per  cent  by  the  state  government.  This  triple  form 
of  payment  is  held  to  correspond  roughly  with  the  relative 
burden  of  responsibility  for  the  sickness  of  the  wage  worker. 
The  insurance  is  to  be  carried  in  one  of  three  ways:  (i)  by 
a  state  fund;  (2)  by  approved  societies  or  unions;  (3)  by 
district  mutual  insurance  associations.  The  benefits  to  be 
provided  by  insurance  carriers  are  medical,  surgical  and 
nursing  attendance;  medical  and  surgical  supplies;  funeral 
benefits;  maternity  benefits;  and  cash  benefits.  The  cash 
benefit  is  to  begin  on  the  fourth  day  of  illness;  it  shall 
be  equal  to  two-thirds  of  the  weekly  wages  of  the  in- 
sured; and  it  shall  not  be  paid  for  more  than  thirteen 
weeks  in  any  one  case,  or  more  than  twenty-six  weeks  in 
any  one  year.  The  system  is  to  be  super\ised  by  a  state 
insurance  commission.  Provisions  are  made  for  varying 
the  premium  rates  in  accord  with  the  sickness  rate;  and 
provisions  are  inserted  for  the  purpose  of  securing  com- 
petent and  acceptable  medical  service.^ 

Sickness  is  a  far  more  important  cause  of  poverty  and 
dependency  than  accidents;  and  much  sickness  is  preventable. 
The  primary  purpose  of  health  insurance  should  be  to  prevent 
sickness  rather  than  to  relieve  the  distress  in  the  families 
of  wage  workers,  caused  by  the  illness  of  the  breadwinner. 
Scientific  health  insurance  legislation  will  stress  efficiency 
rather  than  philanthropy;  it  will  cause  the  employer,  the 
employee  and  the  public  generally  to  look  upon  sickness  not 
merely  as  a  personal  misfortune  but  more  particularly  as  an 
economic  calamity  in  which  the  nation  is  vitally  interested. 
A  properly  drawn  health  insurance  act  will  make  the  reduction 
of  the  sickness  rate  financially  desirable  to  both  employer 
and  employee.  After  workingmen's  compensation  acts  went 
bto  effect,  the  services  of  safety  experts  were  in   demand; 

^  See  American  Labor  Legislation  Review,  June  and  Dec,  1916,  March  and 
Dec.,  191 7;  and  pamphlets  issued  by  the  American  Association  for  Labor 
Legislation. 


;, 


>  t 


fe\ 


376    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

for  similar  reasons  after  the  passage  of  health  insurance  acts 
the  service  of  medical  experts  will  be  called  for  in  order  to 
eliminate  much  sickness  and  thus  to  reduce  insurance  rates. 
Instead  of  trying  by  means  of  coercive  legislation  to  punish 
employers  for  insanitary  and  unhealthful  conditions  in  their 
workplaces  which  will  increase  the  sickness  rate  among  their 
employees,  let  the  plan  of  rewarding  them  for  improving 
workshop  conditions  by  lowering  insurance  rates,  be  given 
a  thorough  trial.^  Such  are  the  arguments  advanced  in 
support  of  health  insurance. 

Health  insurance  is  much  more  complicated  than  working- 
men's  compensation.  No  state  should  enact  a  health  in- 
surance act  without  very  careful  and  detailed  study.  The 
insurance  interests  and  many  physicians  have  looked  with 
disfavor  or  distrust  upon  compulsory  health  insurance. 
The  attitude  of  organized  labor,  at  first  inclined  to  be  hostile, 
is  gradually  becoming  more  favorable.  A  considerable 
group  of  state  federations  of  labor  and  of  national  unions 
have  gone  on  record  in  favor  of  health  insurance.  In  19 18, 
the  Convention  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  author- 
ized the  appointment  of  a  committee  for  the  study  of  health 
insurance.  This  committee  could  not  reach  an  agreement. 
The  following  year  the  Executive  Council  of  the  Federation 
was  authorized  to  give  the  matter  consideration  and  to  report 
to  the  annual  convention  in  1920.  It  is  quite  clear  that  a 
voluntary  health  insurance  act  is  inadequate.  Only  a  small 
percentage  of  the  people  will  be  reached;  and  few  of  the  wage 
workers  will  be  insured.  Like  education,  health  insurance, 
if  adopted,  should  be  universal  and  compulsory. 

Old  Age  Insurance  and  Pensions.  Social  insurance  against 
dependency  in  old  age  is  found  in  two  forms:  —  insurance 
in  which  the  worker  contributes  to  the  fund,  and  a  pension 
granted  to  the  indigent  and  worthy  aged  industrial  worker. 

*  Commons,  The  Survey,  September  6,  1919. 


PROTECTIVE  LEGISLATION  FOR  EMPLOYEES      377 

Germany  and  France  have  adopted  the  first  form.  In  these 
two  countries,  before  the  opening  of  the  Great  War,  the 
system  covered  accident,  sickness  and  old  age  In  Germany, 
nearly  all  wage  workers  were  brought  under  the  law  Two- 
thirds  of  the  sickness  insurance  was  paid  by  the  workers  and 
one- third  by  the  employer.  In  1905  nearly  twelve  millions 
of  wage  earners  were  insured  against  sickness;  and  benefits 
were  paid  amounting  to  about  sixty  million  dollars.  Toward 
the  cost  of  each  invalidity  and  old  age  pension  the  Imperial 
government  contributes  approximately  twelve  dollars  per 
yea.!.  The  remaining  expense  was  divided  equally  between 
the  employer  and  the  employees.  The  German  system  may 
be  called  "compulsory  contributory  insurance  with  state 
subsidy."  In  1905  the  number  of  persons  insured  against 
old  age  and  invalidity  was  nearly  forty  millions.  On  Janu- 
ary I,  1909,  about  eight  times  as  many  persons  were  receiving 
invalidity  pensions  as  were  receiving  old  age  pensions.  The 
average  annual  amount  paid  to  each  pensioned  individual 
was  about  thirty-eight  dollars.^  The  burden  of  this  triple 
insurance  system  upon  the  German  employer  was  not  heavy. 
The  following  statistics  are  from  a  large  steel  company. 
In  1908,  1,750  persons  were  employed —  1,630  workmen  and 
1 20  ojEce  employees.  The  average  earnings  per  worker  were 
1,633  marks. 

Compulsory  contributions  of  employer  per  workman  for  the  year  1908: 

Sickness 1 2.96  marks 

Accident 28.94 

Old  Age  and  Infirmity.  9.02 

Total 50-92  marks  or  3.1 1  per  cent,  of  the  wages  paid. 

Contributions  of  the  workmen: 

Sickness 26.20  marks 

Old  Age  and  Infirmity.   9.02 

Total 35-22  marks  or  2.16  per  cent,  of  the  wages  received. 

1  Dawson,  The  Evolution  of  Modern  Germany,  p.  157. 


I 


I 


n 


1 


378    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

I  he  whole  insurance  system  cost  this  large  steel  company 
and  its  employees  only  about  five  and  one-fourth  per  cent 
of  the  wages.    Is  it  not  worth  the  cost?  ^ 

In  1 9 10  France  passed  a  compulsory  insurance  law  some- 
what similar  to  that  of  Germany.  Insurance  is  prescribed 
for  practically  all  workers  of  both  sexes  receiving  wages  less 
than  3,000  francs  per  year.  Employers  and  employees  pay 
premiums  and  the  government  supplements  the  fund.  The 
pensionable  age  is  fixed  at  sixty-five  years;  in  Germany  the 
age  is  seventy  years.  The  French  law  also  makes  provision 
for  the  widows  and  children  of  deceased  insured  wage 
earners.  '^ 

The  straight  old  age  pension  system  is  more  widely  used. 
England,  Belgium,  Denmark,  New  South  Wales,  Victoria, 
and  New  Zealand  grant  old  age  pensions  to  necessitous  per- 
sons over  sixty-five  years  of  age  (seventy  in  England,  sixty 
in  Denmark)  ''who  have  led  respectable  lives,  and  who  are 
beHeved   to   deserve   assistance   less   humiliating   in   nature 
than  the  ordinary  poor  relief,  from  which  these  pensions  are 
quite  sharply  distinguished.''    The  Denmark  lav/  has  been 
in  force  since  1891.    Pensions  are  granted  to  all  needy  ap- 
plicants sixty  years  of  age  and  upwards  who  have  received 
no   relief   except   hospital    treatment   for    ten   years.    The 
parishes  and   the   central  government  provide   the  funds; 
individuals   do   not   contribute.      The   pension  is   supposed 
to  be  sufficient  to  support  the  person  relieved.     In  Copen- 
hagen, where  the  cost  of  living  is  relatively  high,  the  average 
pension  for  married  couples  is  nine  pounds,  five  shillings; 
for  single  persons,   seven  pounds,   nine  shillings  annually. 
In  the  rural  districts  the  amount  varies  from  three  and  one- 
half  to  five  pounds.     Local  authorities  fix  the  amount  of 
the  annuity.     No  deduction  is  made  for  other  income  unless 

»  Taussig,  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  November,  1909,  pp.  191-194. 
Foerster,  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics.    Vol.  24:  763-770. 


iy 


PROTECTIVE  LEGISLATION   FOR  EMPLOYEES      379 

it  exceeds  five  pounds,  eleven  shillings.  Pensions  may 
be  paid  in  cash  or  in  kind,  or  the  pensioner  may  enter  a  home 
for  the  aged.  At  the  end  of  the  year  1901,  60,000  persons  or 
22  per  cent  of  the  population  above  the  age  limit  were 
receiving  pensions;  13,000  of  this  number  had  dependent 
families. 

The  English  pension  law  went  into  effect  on  January  i, 
1909.  In  its  general  features  it  is  similar  to  the  systems  of 
Denmark  and  New  Zealand.  Pensions  may  be  granted  to 
men  and  women  who  have  attained  the  age  of  seventy  years. 
Pensions  are  paid  out  of  funds  provided  by  Parliament. 
No  contributions  are  required  from  the  pensioners  while  they 
are  self-supporting.  The  pension  is  paid  weekly,  and  a  pen- 
sion is  inalienable.  Every  pensioner  must  have  resided  as  a 
British  subject  in  the  United  Kingdom  for  twenty  years,  and 
must  not  have  received  any  poor  relief  other  than  medical 
and  surgical  assistance.  The  number  of  pensioners  in  1909 
was  over  600,000.  Criminals,  lunatics,  and  inebriates  are 
disqualified.  Character  is  taken  into  account;  a  man  who 
has  failed  to  work  according  to  his  ability  and  opportunity 
may  be  debarred  from  receiving  a  pension.  But  no  person 
can  be  debarred  who  continuously  made  payments  for  ten 
years  before  he  was  sixty  years  of  age  to  trade  unions  maintain- 
ing benefit  systems.  No  one  whose  income  is  over  $160  per 
year  is  entitled  to  a  pension.  The  maximum  pension  is  $1.25 
per  week. 

In  New  South  Wales  persons  over  sixty  years  of  age  who 
are  incapacitated  from  earning  a  livelihood,  and  persons  over 
sixtv-five  years  of  age  are  eligible  to  receive  a  pension.  The 
pensioner  must  have  been  a  resident  of  the  state  for  the  pre- 
ceding twenty-five  years.  The  amount  of  the  pension  is 
(1908)  $126.53  P^r  year.  If  a  person  receives  other  income 
or  owns  property,  provision  is  made  for  reducing  this  amoimt. 
In  1905  nearly  one-half  of  the  persons  over  sixty-five  years 


'    v 


\ 


:( 


380    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

of  age  received  old  age  pensions.  In  New  Zealand,  New 
South  Wales,  and  Victoria  the  pension  is  paid  by  the  gov- 
ernment. It  is  considered  to  be  the  duty  of  the  state  to  care 
for  the  aged  and  infirm.  Ihe  systems  of  Denmark,  England, 
and  New  Soutli  Wales  are  not  insurance  systems.  The 
countries  grant  "partial  non-contributory  pensions."  The 
word  "partial"  is  used  because  pensions  are  not  granted  to 
all  aged  persons. 

A  plea  for  compulsory  sickness  insurance  or  for  old  age 
pensions  is  still  met  in  this  countxy  by  the  old  cry  of  paternal- 
ism. Individual  savings  accounts  or  voluntary  insurance 
are  pointed  to  as  the  proper  methods  of  providing  for  sickness 
and  old  age.  Our  industrial  and  political  leaders  are  domi- 
nated by  the  individualistic  optimism  of  the  so-called  "self- 
made"  man  who  completely  overlooks  the  fact  that  revolu- 
tionary changes  have  occurred  within  the  space  of  a  generation. 
Our  wealthy  and  "self-made"  men  have  repeated  over  and 
over  to  the  rising  generation  and  the  wage  earning  class  the 
story  of  their  start  in  life.  A  graphic  account  is  given  of  the 
method  used  to  cam  the  first  dollar.  Frugality  and  saving 
the  pennies  are  the  magic  watchwords.  Viewed  in  the  light 
of  such  testimony,  the  idea  of  compulsory  insurance  and  non- 
contributory  pensions  looks  Utopian  and  dangerous.  It  would 
seem  that  such  systems  would  inevitably  destroy  self-reliance 
and  make  the  worker  a  "mollycoddle."  If,  however,  a 
more  searching  examination  is  made  of  the  careers  of  these 
self-made  men,  it  is  usually  discovered  that  the  exploitation 
of  natural  resources  and  the  ownership  of  valuable  privileges 
or  franchises,  rather  than  mere  frugality,  furnished  the  basis 
of  their  economic  prosperity.  Today  by  mere  frugality  and 
saving  neither  the  wage  earner  nor  the  average  salaried  man 
can  hope  to  become  moderately  well-to-do.  In  fact,  he 
can  scarcely  save  enough  to  keep  him  in  his  old  age  without 
lowering  his  standard  of  living.     Multitudes  of  families  in 


PROTECTIVE  LEGISLATION  FOR  EMPLOYEES      381 

this  country  do  not  receive  sufficient  income  to  warrant  any 
attempt  to  save  for  old  age  or  for  a  "rainy  day."  In  an 
epoch  of  small-scale  industry,  when  competition  was  active 
and  the  capillarity  of  classes  was  considerable,  an  old  age 
pension  scheme  might  and  probably  would  have  discouraged 
thrift  and  foresight.  But  today,  in  an  advanced  industrial 
nation,  the  conditions  of  industrial  life  and  the  increasing 
immobility  of  classes  are  such  as  to  discourage  individual 
frugality  and  savings.  Under  such  conditions  the  validity 
of  the  argument,  that  a  non-contributory  pension  system 
will  discourage  thrift  and  foresight,  may  be  questioned. 

Sickness  and  old  age  are  prolific  causes  of  dependency.  The 
arguments  in  favor  of  a  system  of  compensation  for  industrial 
accidents  as  a  desirable  and  humane  method  of  reducing  the 
amount  of  want,  suffering,  and  need  of  charitable  aid,  apply 
with  added  strength  in  the  case  of  sickness  insurance  and  old 
age  pensions.  If  wage  earners  cannot,  without  an  undesir- 
able lowering  of  the  standard  of  living,  save  enough  to  provide 
for  periods  of  sickness  and  for  old  age,  surely  the  govern- 
ment ought  to  relieve  the  distress  and  by  some  more 
adequate  and  humane  means  than  the  poorhouse.  A  pension 
system  may  reduce  individual  initiative  —  although  it  may 
be  questioned  whether  placing  small  sums  at  occasional 
intervals  in  a  savings  bank  is  very  effective  in  stimulating 
individual  initiative  —  but  it  will  certainly  promote  the 
welfare  of  the  wage  earners.  The  dread  of  the  uncertain 
future  will  be  replaced  by  a  feeling  of  security.  But  it  is 
urged  that  pensioning  wage  earners  will  lead  to  unwise  and 
harmful  expenditure  of  present  income.  Fourscore  years  ago 
Randolph  urged  against  the  establishment  of  free  schools  in 
Virginia  for  similar  reasons.  He  said  that  reduced  expendi- 
tures for  the  education  of  their  children  would  lead  fathers  to 
become  drunkards  and  idlers.  They  would  waste  the  portion 
of  their  income  which  had  hitherto  been  spent  for  tuition  in 


H 


li 


-I 


If 


I 


i 


n 


382    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

riotous  living.  Randolph  was  mistaken;  and  it  is  not  proven 
that  pensioning  wage  earners  will  cause  an  increase  in  the 
relative  amount  of  unwise  and  harmful  expenditure  of  present 
and  future  income.  On  the  contrary,  uncertainty  as  to  the 
future  and  the  fear  of  future  unemployment  or  of  industrial 
depression  often  lead  wage  earners  to  spend  their  income 
recklessly.  An  old-age  pension  system  for  all  poor,  but 
worthy,  industrial  workers  in  the  United  States  would  in- 
volve large  expenditures.  It  was  estimated  in  191 2  that  there 
were  "approximately  1,250,000  former  wage  earners  who 
have  reached  the  age  of  sixty-five  years  in  want, "  and  who 
were  at  that  time  "being  supported  by  charity,  public  and 
private."  ^ 

Our  federal  and  state  governments  pension  certain  classes 
of  employees;  American  cities  are  pensioning  policemen, 
firemen  and  teachers.  A  few  labor  organizations  have  or- 
ganized pension  systems.  An  increasing  group  of  corporations 
are  pensioning  certain  grades  of  employees.  In  this  list  may 
be  mentioned,  the  Standard  Oil  Company,  the  United  States 
Steel  Corporation,  Sears,  Roebuck  and  Company,  the  West- 
ern Electric  Company,  Armour  and  Company,  and  Swift 
and  Company.  The  amount  of  pension  allowed  usually 
varies  according  to  the  wages  received  and  the  length  of  the 
term  of  service.  The  United  States  Steel  Corporation  pro- 
vides for  a  monthly  pension  equal  to  one  per  cent  of  the 
average  monthly  wage  received  during  the  ten  years  preced- 
ing retirement,  multiplied  by  the  number  of  years  of  service. 
Organized  labor  has  been  somewhat  distrustful  of  pension 
schemes  and  benefit  societies  originated  by  employing  cor- 
porations. It  is  felt  that,  although  membership  in  the 
benefit  societies  is  usually  voluntary,  the  employee  neglect- 
ing or  refusing  to  join  is  in  danger  of  being  discriminated 
against.    Membership  in  a  benefit  society  will  also  tend  to 

*  Squier,  Old  Age  Dependence  in  the  United  States ^  p.  3. 


^1 


PROTECTIVE  LEGISLATION   FOR  EMPLOYEES      383 

make  employees  conservative,  and  will  weaken  their  loyalty 
to  their  labor  organization.  In  case  of  a  labor  dispute  the 
old  employee  who  is  about  to  be  pensioned  will  have  a  strong 
incentive  to  break  with  his  union,  as  loyalty  to  the  union  in 
case  of  a  strike  may  mean  the  loss  of  the  opportunity  to 
receive  a  pension. 

Pension  System  of  the  International  Typographical  Union. 
The  International  Typographical  Union  adopted  in  1907  a 
plan  for  granting  old  age  pensions  to  its  members.  The 
scheme  provided  that  eligible  applicants  for  a  pension  must 
be  at  least  sixty  years  of  age,  and  must  have  been  for  twenty 
consecutive  years  members  of  the  International  Typographical 
Union.  In  addition  two  other  qualifications  are  required: 
(a)  each  applicant  must  be  earning  less  than  four  dollars 
per  week,  and  {h)  he  must  have  no  other  income  or  means  of 
support.  The  amount  of  the  weekly  payment  is  four  dollars. 
The  revenue  for  the  pension  fund  is  derived  from  an  as- 
sessment of  one-half  of  one  per  cent  upon  the  earnings  of 
the  members  of  the  union.  The  organization  also  opened, 
in  1892,  at  Colorado  Springs,  a  home  for  disabled  printers. 
In  1918,  the  union  paid  $287,015  in  old  age  pensions. 

The  Massachusetts  Old  Age  Annuity  System.  Massachu- 
setts provides  by  law  for  an  old  age  annuity  system.  The 
Massachusetts  law  respects  the  traditional  American  pre- 
dilection for  individual  independence  and  for  a  minimum  of 
government  interference.  The  savings  banks  of  the  state  are 
allowed  to  enter  the  insurance  business;  but  they  are  not 
allowed  to  solicit  business.  The  plan  is  to  reduce  expenses  to  a 
minimum,  and  at  the  same  time  provide  adequate  security. 
"Annuities  and  life  insurance  will  be  furnished  to  the  wage 
earners  at  the  lowest  possible  cost.  The  only  dividends  will 
be  those  paid  to  the  policy  holders  who  will  get  their  equitable 
share  of  all  the  profits  of  the  business."  A  wage  earner  may 
deposit  monthly  a  small  sum.    After  the  depositor  attains 


; 


Mi  ? 


i 


1 


h 


f«« 


384    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

the  age  of  sixty-five,  an  annuity  will  be  paid,  or  if  he  dies 
before  that  time,  insurance  will  be  paid  to  his  family.  Each 
policy  also  earns  a  share  of  the  profits  of  the  insurance  de- 
partment of  the  bank.  Members  of  the  American  Federation 
of  Labor  urged  the  passage  of  the  act.  The  Massachusetts 
law  provides  for  a  voluntary  annuity  plan. 

The  American  Association  Jor  Labor  Legislation.  This 
association  is  a  branch  of  the  International  Association  for 
Labor  Legislation.  It  was  founded  in  1906.  According  to 
its  constitution  it  aims  "to  promote  the  uniformity  of  labor 
legislation  in  the  United  States"  and  "to  encourage  the  study 
of  labor  legislation."  The  lack  of  uniformity  in  legislation 
among  our  forty-odd  states  has  been  a  serious  evil.  Much  of 
this  lack  of  imiformity  has  been  due  to  the  absence  of  infor- 
mation as  to  what  had  been  accomplished  in  other  states  and 
nations.  This  association  is  doing  an  important  work  in 
giving  to  the  public  accurate  monographs  on  comparative 
legislation,  definite  facts  as  to  industrial  diseases  and  the 
effect  of  night  work  upon  workers,  and  a  variety  of  informa- 
tion as  to  industrial  conditions.  The  Association  was  an 
important  factor  in  hastening  the  adoption  of  workingmen's 
compensation  laws;  it  has  also  made  an  active  campaign 
in  favor  of  health  insurance. 


REFERENCES   FOR   FURTHER  READING 

The  labor  laws  of  the  various  states  may  be  found  in  Bulletins  of  the 
Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  See  also  the  publications  of  the  American 
Association  for  Labor  Legislation.  Important  court  decisions  affecting 
labor  are  to  be  found  in  Bulletins  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics. 

Freund,  The  Police  Power. 

Stimson,  Labor  in  its  Relation  to  Law. 

Eaves,  History  of  Labor  Legislation  in  California. 

Adams  and  Sumner,  Labor  Problems.    Ch,  12. 


PROTECTIVE   LEGISLATION   FOR  EMPLOYEES      385 

Clark,  "Labor  Laws  Declared  Unconstitutional,"  Bulletin  of  the 
Bureau  of  Labor.     No.  91. 

Weber,  "International  Movement  for  Labor  Legislation,"  Charities 
and  the  Commons.     Vol.17:  833-838. 

Groat,  Freund,  and  others,  "Labor  and  the  Courts,"  Proceedings  of 
the  Third  Annual  Meeting  of  the  American  Association  for  Labor  Legisla- 
tion (1909). 

Greeley,  "  Changing  Attitude  of  the  Courts,"  The  Survey.     September 

Carlton,  Organized  Labor  in  American  History.     Ch.  6. 

Commons  and  Andrews,  Principles  of  Labor  Legislation. 

Clark,  Law  of  the  Employment  of  Labor. 

Groat,  Attitude  of  American  Courts  in  Labor  Cases. 

Seager,  Social  Insurance. 

Commons,  Trade  Unionism  and  Labor  Problems,  pp.  156-194,  482-526. 

Clark,  "Employers'  Liability  in  the  United  States,"  Bulletin  of  the 
Bureau  of  Labor.    No.  74. 

Henderson,  Industrial  Insurance  in  the  United  States. 

"Industrial  Accidents  and  Workingmen's  Compensation,"  Bulletin 
of  the  Minnesota  Bureau  of  Labor,  Industries  and  Commerce  (1909-19 10). 

"Industrial  Insurance,"  Report  of  the  Wisconsin  Bureau  of  Labor  and 
Industrial  Statistics,  1908. 

Andrews,  "Scientific  Standards  in  Labor  Legislation,"  American 
Labor  Legislation  Review,  June,  191 1. 

Squier,  Old  Age  Dependency  in  the  United  States. 

Fisher,  "  Field  of  Workingmen's  Compensation  in  the  U.  S.,"  American 
Economic  Review,  June,  191 5. 

Fisher,  "American  Experience  with  Workingmen's  Compensation," 
American  Economic  Review,  March,  1920. 

Health  Insurance  is  discussed  in  various  numbers  of  The  American 
Labor  Legislation  Review. 

Frankel  and  Dawson,  Workingmen's  Insurance  in  Europe. 

Dawson,  The  German  Workman.    Chs.  3  and  15. 


I 


'#?! 


386    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 
Reeves,  State  Experiments  in  Australia  and  New  Zealand. 

Foerster,  "The  British  National  Insurance  Act,"  Quarterly  Journal 
of  Economics,  February,  191 2. 

Ghent,  "Old  Age  Pensions,"  The  Independent.     Vol.  70. 

Baldwin,  "Old  Age  Pension  Schemes,"  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics. 
Vol.  24:  713  ff. 

Hillquit,  Socialism  in  Theory  and  Practice,  pp.  254-268. 


CHAPTER   XII 


IMMIGRATION 


The  immigration  from  foreign  countries  is  of  direct  import 
to  the  wage  earners  of  the  United  States,  because  it  increases 
the  supply  of  workers,  because  the  incoming  workers  may 
possess  a  lower  standard  of  living  than  the  native  workman 
thus  endangering  the  existing  scale  of  wages,  and  because 
such  immigration  may  increase  subdivision  of  labor  and  thus 
modify  working  conditions.  Less  directly  immigration  will 
affect  the  wage  earners  by  modifying  the  character  of  labor 
organizations,  by  introducing  new  factors  into  state,  local, 
and  national  politics,  and  by  increasing  racial  differences. 

History.  Definite  records  of  immigration  to  the  United 
States  begin  with  the  year  1820.  Before  that  date  no  accurate 
statistics  are  available.  Nevertheless,  it  may  be  assumed 
that  immigration  was  inconsiderable  and  that  the  natural 
rate  of  increase  of  the  population  was  not  small.  In  1751 
Benjamin  Franklin  estimated  that  the  one  million  inhabitants 
of  the  Colonies  were  the  descendants  of  immigrants  not  ex- 
ceeding eighty  thousand  in  number.  From  1776,  the  year  in 
which  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  signed,  to  1820 
there  were  few  incentives  for  immigration  into  this  newly 
organized  nation.  A  commonly  accepted  estimate  of  the 
total  immigration  from  1776  to  1820  fixed  the  mmiber  at 
250,000. 

After  1820  westward  expansion  became  rapid,  and  Ameri- 
can industrial  advance  began.  A  graphic  chart  showing  the 
number  of  immigrants  coming  to  this  country  during  the 
nine  decades  subsequent  to  1820  presents  a  wave-like  appear- 

2»7 


i 


1'^ 


iv 


i'  ♦ 

m 


5. 


11 

'"If! 


'm\ 


388    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

ance.^  Each  succeeding  wave  is,  with  one  exception,  higher 
than  the  one  which  preceded  it.  The  first  wave  reached  its 
highest  point  in  the  fiscal  years  1836  and  1837.  The  second 
wave  culminated  in  1851  to  1854;  the  third  in  1866  to  1873; 
the  fourth  in  1882;  and  the  fifth  in  1892.  The  sixth  and 
mightiest  wave  reached  a  maximum  in  1907;  the  seventh 
and  last  big  wave  appeared  in  1914.  The  number  of  im- 
migrants in  1837  was  79,380;  m  1854,  427,833;  in  1873, 
459^803;  in  1882,  788,992;  in  1892,  579,663;  in  1907,  1,285,- 
349.^  Following  the  crest  of  each  wave  is  a  period  in  which 
the  number  of  immigrants  is  reduced.  The  low  water  marks 
are  found  in  1838,  1862,  1878,  1886,  and  1898.  The  figures 
for  these  years  are  38,914,  72,183,  138,469,  334,203,  and 
229,299  respectively.  In  1909,  the  number  of  immigrants 
was  751,786  or  533,563  less  than  in  1907,  the  year  of  maxi- 
mum immigration  up  to  the  present.  In  19 10,  1,041,570 
were  admitted;  in  191 2,  the  number  fell  to  838,172;  and,  in 
1914,  increased  to  1,218,420.  With  the  outbreak  of  hostili- 
ties in  1 9 14,  the  stream  of  immigration  was  greatly  reduced. 
The  number  of  immigrant  aliens  admitted  since  the  opening 
of  the  War  is  as  follows:  1915,  326,700;  1916,  298,826; 
1917,  295,403;    1918,  110,618;  1919,  141,140. 

From  1820  to  19 10,  nearly  thirty  millions  of  Europeans 
migrated  to  this  country.  This  stream  of  human  beings  is 
larger  than  was  the  total  population  of  the  United  States  in 
1850;  it  is  almost  equal  to  the  number  of  people  dwelling 
within  our  borders  when  Lincoln  was  elected  President. 
During  19 10,  the  number  of  immigrants  coming  to  our  shores, 
many  of  whom  were  seeking  homes  and  were  to  become 
citizens  and  the  parents  of  future  citizens,  was  greater  than 
the  population  of  New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  and  Delaware; 
it  exceeded  in  amount  the  population  of  five  young  western 

*  See  Chart  I  in  the  Report  of  the  Commissioner-General  of  Immigration  (1909). 

*  The  figures  for  years  preceding  1867  are  for  "Alien  Passengers." 


i 


IMMIGRATION 


389 


commonwealths,  Idaho,  Wyoming,  New  Mexico,  Arizona, 
and  Nevada.  In  19 10  only  twenty-seven  states  exceeded 
in  population  the  number  of  immigrants  who  came  in  one 
year,  1907.  That  incoming  horde  was  equal  to  one- third 
of  the  total  population  reported  by  the  first  census  (1790). 
In  the  words  of  Professor  Ripley,  '*we  have  to  do,  not  with 
the  slow  processes  of  growth  by  deposit  or  accretion,  but 
with  violent  and  volcanic  dislocation.  We  are  called  upon 
to  survey  a  lava-flow  of  population,  suddenly  cast  forth  from 
Europe  and  spread  indiscriminately  over  a  new  continent." 

The  total  immigration  during  a  given  time  is  always  more 
than  the  net  gain  because  many  immigrants  return  each 
year  to  their  home  country.  Accurate  statistics  of  emi- 
grant aliens  were  not  gathered  until  the  fiscal  year  of  1908. 
During  that  year  the  alien  immigration  amounted  to  782,870, 
and  the  alien  emigration  to  295,073;  or  the  net  gain  through 
immigration  was  387,797.  In  191 1,  the  net  immigration 
was  512,085.  The  Bureau  of  Immigration  estimated  that 
the  net  immigration  (that  is,  the  total  alien  immigration 
minus  the  alien  emigration)  for  the  ten-year  period  ending 
June  30,  1908,  was  68  per  cent  of  the  total  alien  immigration 
for  that  period.  During  a  period  of  depression  the  outward 
flow  'becomes  considerable.  From  November  22,  1907,  to 
January  i,  1908,  103,848  persons  were  reported  to  have 
sailed  third  class  from  the  ports  of  the  United  States  and 
Canada  for  Europe.  During  the  fiscal  year  191 7  and  1918,  the 
number  of  emigrant  aliens  was  66,277  and  94,855  respectively; 
and  the  net  alien  immigration  was  228,818  and  16,033. 

The  World  War  brought  new  phases  of  the  immigration 
problem  into  prominence.  The  selective  draft  disclosed  to  the 
American  people  that  many  recent  immigrants  had  "ex- 
perienced only  the  faintest  initiation  into  the  real  life  of  the 
nation."  As  a  consequence  of  this  new  vision  and  of  the 
ultra-radical  agitation  in  1919,  a  vigorous  demand  for  Ameri- 


•( 


% 


I 


390    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

canization  has  arisen.  The  urgency  of  these  measures  will 
depend  upon  the  size  of  the  stream  of  immigration  during 
the  next  decade  or  two.  The  rise  in  rural  land  values  during 
the  last  fifteen  years  will  act  as  a  check  on  the  influx  of  men 
from  Northern  Europe  who  are  anxious  to  become  land- 
owning farmers.  This  class  in  Great  Britain,  France,  and 
Germany,  if  they  wish  to  leave  the  home  country  and  are 
not  prevented  by  restrictions  on  the  part  of  the  home  govern- 
ment, will  be  more  likely  to  migrate  to  Canada,  Australia, 
South  America,  Asia  Minor  or  Mexico  than  to  a  country  of 
higher  land  values.  The  opportunities  offered  by  the  United 
States  in  recent  decades  have  not  appealed  to  the  people  of 
Northwestern  Europe;  and  there  is  no  reason  for  antici- 
pating any  considerable  influx  from  these  countries.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  unfortunate  economic  conditions  in  the 
Balkan  States,  Austria,  Hungary,  and  Russia  will  doubtless 
cause  many  to  migrate,  unless  checked  by  home  legislation. 
The  poorly  developed  parts  of  the  world  will  not  attract 
this  type  of  people;  and  we  may  expect  a  large  percentage 
of  the  outgoing  stream  unless  the  United  States  places  further 
restrictions  upon  immigration. 

Causes,  The  rise  and  fall  of  the  immigration  waves  are 
very  closely  connected  with  the  phenomenon  of  prosperity 
and  depression  in  this  country.  Other  forces  act  so  as  to 
change  the  course  of  immigration,  but  the  connection  between 
prosperity  and  influx  of  immigrants  is  evident  even  to  the 
casual  observer.  The  years  tracing  the  high  water  mark  of 
immigration  are  almost  invariably  preceded  by  epochs  of 
prosperity  and  of  business  expansion,  and  are  as  invariably 
followed  by  years  of  depression  and  of  business  retrenchment. 
The  wave  culminating  in  1854  seems  to  have  been  an  excep- 
tion to  this  statement.  In  that  case  the  ending  of  acute 
political  and  economic  disturbance  in  Europe  and  the  Know- 
Nothing  agitation  in  the  United  States  operated  to  cause  a 


IMMIGRATION 


391 


marked  diminution  in  the  amount  of  immigration  in  the  midst 
of  a  period  of  prosperity  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  The 
small  immigration  in  the  fiscal  year  of  1862  is  due  to  abnormal 
conditions  accompanying  the  Civil  War.  A  curve  repre- 
senting imports  per  capita  presents  almost  the  same  wave- 
like appearance  as  does  that  of  immigration.  The  year  1857 
rather  than  1854  marks  the  crest  of  the  wave  corresponding 
to  the  immigration  wave  culminating  in  the  latter  year. 

Political  and  religious  persecutions  have  played  an  import- 
ant part  in  stimulating  the  migration  of  people  to  America 
which  has  been  so  often  and  so  vividly  painted  as  a  haven  of 
refuge  for  the  weak  and  oppressed  of  all  nations.  Persecution 
was  a  potent  factor  in  the  colonization  of  the  Atlantic  coastal 
plain.  Puritans,  Roman  Catholics,  Quakers,  and  Scotch- 
Irish  migrated  to  escape  persecution  and  to  reach  a  locality 
where  they  might  be  free  from  the  fetters  of  European  tyranny. 
After  the  revolutionary  disturbances  in  Germany  large 
numbers  of  political  liberals  came  to  this  country.  In  1850, 
63,182  aUen  passengers  were  reported  as  coming  from  Ger- 
many; in  1852,  145,918;  and  in  1854,  215,009.  The  following 
year  the  number  abruptly  dropped  to  71,918.  The  immigra- 
tion from  Germany  in  1882  was  250,630;  this  is  the  only  year 
in  which  the  influx  exceeded  that  of  1854.  In  1907  Germany 
only  contributed  37,807.  Many  Russians,  Jews,  and  Poles 
have  migrated  to  our  shores  because  of  religious  and  political 
persecution.  The  desire  to  escape  compulsory  military  ser- 
vice has  also  been  a  factor  in  inducing  migration  to  this 
country. 

Another  cause  is  found  in  the  low  wages  and  bad  economic 
conditions  in  certain  European  countries.  The  great  migra- 
tion of  Irish  from  1847  to  1854  was  induced  by  the  suffering 
in  connection  with  the  potato  famine  and  the  landlord  sys- 
tem. During  this  period  of  eight  years  nearly  1,200,000  Irish 
crossed  the  Atlantic  to  seek  homes  in  America.    Others  were 


u  m 


1 

iff 
M 

I 

if 


N 

EM 


i; 


392    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

attracted  by  the  possibility  of  obtaining  farm  land.  In  re- 
cent years  the  man  from  southern  Europe  has  been  induced 
to  leave  his  native  land  because  of  the  high  money  wage  paid 
in  the  United  States.  The  fundamental  causes  of  immigration 
to  the  United  States  since  1820  are  found  in  the  apparent 
contrast  between  poHtical  and  religious  persecution  or  oppres- 
sion in  the  Old  World,  and  religious  and  political  tolerance 
and  freedom  in  the  United  States;  and  also  in  the  apparent 
contrast  between  the  economic  and  labor  conditions  in  the  old 
and  exploited  countries  of  Europe  and  the  young  nation  of  the 
New  World,  abounding  in  land  and  undeveloped  resources. 

In  addition  to  the  underlying  causes  of  immigration  several 
secondary  forces  materially  increased  the  total  volume  in  the 
decades  immediately  preceding  1914.  The  ease  of  trans- 
portation and  communication  in  recent  years  has  increased 
the  amount  of  immigration.  It  is  no  longer  a  dangerous 
and  trying  experiment  to  cross  the  ocean.  The  trip  can  be 
made  quickly,  cheaply,  and  surely.  Immigration  is  no  longer 
restricted  to  the  self-reliant,  the  ambitious,  and  the  forceful. 
While  on  the  journey,  the  immigrant  is  looked  after  and 
directed,  and  after  he  lands  a  job  is  found  for  him.  **The 
sea  formerly  acted  as  a  sieve,  now  the  meshes  let  through 
every  species  of  voyager."  Before  the  War,  steamship 
companies  had  thousands  of  agents  eager  to  stimulate  im- 
migration from  the  various  European  countries  to  the 
United  States.  ''Runners"  went  from  village  to  village  in 
Southern  Europe  attempting  to  induce  the  natives  to  emi- 
grate; they  were  paid  commissions  by  the  steamship  com- 
panies. Boarding  house  keepers,  liquor  dealers,  and  others 
whose  business  brought  them  in  contact  with  many  people 
were  utilized  as  sub-agents.  An  investigation  by  a  special 
agent  of  the  Bureau  of  Immigration  showed  *'  that  all  of  the 
steamship  lines  engaged  in  bringing  aliens  from  Europe 
to  this  country  have  persistently  and  systematically  violated 


MM 


IMMIGRATION 


393 


the  law,  both  in  its  letter  and  spirit,  by  making  use  of  every 
possible  means  to  encourage  the  peasants  of  Europe  to  pur- 
chase tickets  over  their  Hnes  to  this  country." ^  Many  Amer- 
ican employers  of  labor  are  also  very  anxious  to  increase  the 
volume  of  immigration.  Professor  Commons  has  well  said: 
"The  desire  to  get  cheap  labor,  to  take  the  passenger  fares, 
and  to  sell  land  have  probably  brought  more  immigrants  than 
the  hard  conditions  of  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa  have  sent." 
The  demand  for  cheap  labor  and  for  profits,  brought  to  our 
shores  the  negro  slave  and  the  indentured  white  servant;  and 
it  greatly  stimulated  the  immigration  of  unskilled  labor  dur- 
ing and  immediately  following  the  Civil  War.  It  is  an  ever- 
present  and  potent  force;  but  the  old  method  of  kidnaping 
people  and  shipping  them  to  Colonial  America  is  now  replaced 
by  more  genteel  and  less  direct  methods. 

The  presence  of  friends  and  relatives  in  this  country  is 
another  cause  of  immigration.  It  is  estimated  that  at  least 
one-third  of  the  total  number  of  immigrants  is  assisted  by 
friends.  Of  the  751,786  immigrants  admitted  in  the  fiscal 
year  ending  June  30,  1909,  over  228,000  stated  that  their 
passage  was  paid  by  relatives  or  others.  Of  course,  this 
factor  is  pecuHarly  effective  in  times  of  prosperity.  On  the 
other  hand,  during  an  era  of  depression  intending  immigrants 
will  be  discouraged  by  their  over-sea  friends.  Before  the 
passage  of  the  acts  of  1875,  1882,  and  1891,  foreign  govern- 
ments, and  particularly  local  authorities,  were  often  guilty 
of  dumping  members  of  the  delinquent,  dependent,  and 
defective  classes  upon  our  shores. 

Changes  in  the  Nationality  of  Immigrants.  Before  1880 
immigration  to  the  United  States  was  confined  chiefly  to  the 
countries  of  north-western  Europe.  Great  Britain,  Ireland, 
and  Germany  furnished  a  large  percentage  of  the  total  influx. 
Southern   and   south-eastern  Europe  sent  few    immigrants 

*  Report  of  Commissioner-General  for  1909,  p.  112. 


/ 


P' 


It 


i=M   ; 


$ 


•'( 


U'. 


Vi 


V 


394    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

previous  to  the  opening  of  the  decade  of  the  eighties.  The 
people  coming  before  1880  were  not  dissimilar  to  the  early 
American  colonists.  The  early  immigrants  were  accustomed 
to  a  representative  form  of  government,  they  were  Protes- 
tants, they  were  skilled  artisans  or  progressive  farmers  of  the 
thrifty,  self-reliant  type,  and  finally  they  were  of  Teutonic 
origin. 

Since  1880  the  tide  of  immigration  has  begun  to  flow  from 
southern  and  south-eastern  Europe,  bringing  to  our  shores 
men  and  women  of  very  different  characteristics  and  possibili- 
ties. The  typical  immigrants  of  the  last  two  decades  are 
accustomed  to  a  modified  form  of  autocratic  government, 
they  adhere  to  the  Roman  Catholic  faith,  they  are  unskilled 
artisans  or  primitive  agriculturalists  not  far  removed  from 
serfdom,  and  they  are  not  self-reliant,  but  accustomed  to 
blindly  obey  those  in  authority.  In  1904  an  officer  of  the 
Bureau  of  Immigration  who  had  been  conducting  an  investi- 
gation in  Europe  presented  the  situation  in  a  nutshell.  "The 
average  emigrant  of  today  is  sadly  lacking  in  that  courage, 
intelligence,  and  initiative  which  characterized  the  European 
people  who  settled  in  the  Western  States  in  the  eighties."  Dur- 
ing thedecade  1851-1860  Germany,  Great  Britain,  and  Ireland 
furnished  88  per  cent,  of  the  total  immigration,  while  Austria- 
Himgary,  Italy,  Russia,  and  Poland  sent  only  four-tenths 
of  one  per  cent.  During  the  decade  1 881-1890,  the  percent- 
ages were  55.6  and  17.6  respectively.  Then  the  balance 
turned.  Free  land  was  disappearing;  and  our  famous  west- 
ward moving  frontier  line  had  vanished.  The  days  of  the 
pioneer  and  the  backwoods  farmer  had  become  historic  rather 
than  actual.  Centralized  and  subdivided  industry  —  rail- 
way, mine,  and  factory  —  were  calling  for  the  unskilled  and 
docile  peasant  worker  of  southern  Europe.  During  the 
decade  1 891- 1900  the  three  countries  of  northern  Europ)e 
only  sent  31.6  per  cent,  of  the  total,  while  Austria-Hungary, 


IMMIGRATION 


395 


Italy,  Russia,  and  Poland  furnished  slightly  more  than 
one-half  of  the  entire  stream.  In  1909  the  figures  are 
approximately  13  and  63  per  cent,  respectively. 

The  warp  and  woof  of  American  civilization  is  inevitably 
modified  by  such  a  striking  change  in  the  character  of  the 
immigration  into  this  country.  It  presages  far-reaching 
modifications  in  our  industrial,  political,  and  social  fabric. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  changing  nature  of  the  stream  of  immi- 
gration is  in  no  small  measure  the  inevitable  result  of  the 
important  industrial  transformations  which  have  taken  place 
since  the  outbreak  of  the  Ci\il  War.  Our  complex,  subdi- 
vided, and  routinized  industrial  mechanism  provides  positions 
for  the  man  without  initiative,  for  the  "beaten  men  from 
beaten  races."  The  small  shop  and  the  farm  of  the  ante- 
trust  days  could  not  utilize  the  men  who  work  only  according 
to  orders  given  by  the  foreman  or  the  overseer.  Modem 
economic  progress  has  made  a  place  for  the  man  from  south- 
ern Europe;  on  the  other  hand,  his  presence  and  the  ease 
with  which  immigration  can  be  stimulated,  has  hastened  the 
development  of  the  complex,  large-scale  industr>^  with  its 
minute  subdivision  of  labor.  The  presence  in  America  of 
large  numbers  of  men  and  women  from  southern  Europe  is 
both  a  cause  and  an  effect  of  the  far-reaching  industrial  and 
social  changes  of  recent  decades. 

Early  Opposition  to  Immigration.  Opposition  to  immigra- 
tion is  by  no  means  of  recent  origin.  It  has  not  developed 
solely  because  of  the  recent  influx  of  the  mei\  from  southern 
Europe  and  Asia.  The  debates  in  the  Constitutional  Con- 
vention of  1787  disclose  some  fear  of  the  political  influence 
of  the  foreign  settler.  The  constitution  specifies  that  no 
person  may  be  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
who  has  not  been  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  for  seven 
years;  or  a  senator  without  a  citizenship  extending  over  a 
period  of  nine  years.    Still  more  clearly  is  the  distrust  of  the 


h 


I 


396    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

foreigner  expressed  in  the  clause  which  debars  foreign-born 
citizens  from  the  office  of  President.  Washington  did  not 
favor  immigration;  and  Jefferson  wished  to  stop  all  immigra- 
tion. During  the  administration  of  John  Adams  a  law  was 
passed  requiring  a  residence  of  fourteen  years  before  natural- 
ization. This  severe  requirement  was  removed  under  the 
following  administration.  The  alien  and  sedition  laws,  also 
passed  under  Adams'  administration,  bear  further  testimony 
to  the  hatred  of  the  federalists  for  the  alien.  Gouverneur 
Morris  did  not  believe  that  a  man  could  become  firmly  at- 
tached to  an  adopted  country.  The  Hartford  Convention  in 
1 8 14  desired  to  make  every  person  thereafter  naturalized 
ineligible  to  hold  any  civil  office  under  the  federal  government. 
The  Convention  held  that  the  population  of  the  United 
States  was  then  "amply  sufficient  to  render  this  nation 
in  due  time  sufficiently  great  and  -powerful.'*  This  early 
feeling  of  opposition  to  the  influx  of  foreign  elements  appears 
to  have  been  due  to  an  anticipation  of  political  dangers.  It 
was  felt  that  the  newly  organized  republican  institutions 
might  be  undermined  and  destroyed  by  the  votes  and 
influence  of  people  from  monarchical  Europe. 

With  the  increase  of  immigration  which  came  in  the  thirties, 
nativistic  sentiment  grew  rapidly.  Ireland  and  German}-  con- 
tributed a  large  percentage  of  the  immigration  of  the  thirties. 
In  1836  the  number  of  immigrants  from  Ireland  was  30,578 
and  from  Germany,  20,707;  these  two  countries  sent  51,285 
out  of  a  total^  of  76,242  immigrants.  Racial  and  religious 
differences  generated  antagonism  between  the  newcomers  and 
those  already  here.  It  was  also  asserted  that  England  was 
"shoveling"  her  paupers  upon  American  cities.  In  1832 
Seth  Luther,  a  labor  agitator,  declared  that  American  manu- 
facturers were  sending  agents  to  Europe  in  order  to  induce 
working  people  to  come  to  this  country  so  as  to  increase  the 
competition  for  jobs  and  thus  lower  the  scale  of  wages.     In 


IMMIGRATION 


397 


the  panic  year  of  1837  the  Native  American  Association  was 
organized  on  a  political  basis  in  the  city  of  Washington.^ 

The  forties  and  early  fifties  brought  large  numbers  of 
Roman  Catholic  Irish  and  German  liberals  to  our  shore.  Vio- 
lent attacks  upon  Catholics  and  Catholic  churches  occurred. 
"Native  American"  Congressmen  were  elected.  A  national 
convention  of  Native  Americans  was  held.  Delegates  from 
nine  states  were  present.  Aiter  1848  many  of  the  Germans 
who  came  to  this  country  did  not  immediately  seek  naturali- 
zation. This  fanned  the  flames.  A  period  of  rabid  Ameri- 
canism followed;  and  "manifest  destiny"  became  a  fetish. 
The  superiority  of  the  American  and  of  American  institu- 
tions was  universally  believed. 

Daniel  Webster's  defiant  note  to  Austria  is  symptomatic  of 
the  hysterical  and  self-satisfied  feeling  of  the  nation.  "The 
power  of  this  republic  at  the  present  moment  is  spread  over 
a  region  one  of  the  richest  and  most  fertile  on  the  globe,  and 
of  an  extent  in  comparison  with  which  the  possessions  of  the 
House  of  Hapsburg  are  but  a  patch  on  the  earth's  surface." 
"Democratic  individualism"  was  in  the  saddle.  Emerson 
and  Thoreau  were  the  philosophical  mouthpieces  of  the  era. 
In  1852  the  Know-No  thing  or  American  party  came  into 
prominence.  This  spectacular  organization  began  its  rocket- 
like career  as  a  secret  society.  The  purpose  of  the  Know- 
Nothing  party  seems  to  have  been  the  exclusion  of  foreigners 
and  Roman  Catholics  from  all  national,  state,  and  local 
offices,  and  the  extension  of  the  period  of  residence  before 
naturalization.  It  was  urged  that  immigration  was  in- 
creasing political  corruption,  and  that  the  immigrants  were 
lowering  the  moral  standards  of  the  American  people. 
Southern  members  of  the  Know-Nothing  party  declared 
that  immigration  was  enabling  the  North  to  gain  upon 
the    South   in    influence   in    the   halls   of   Congress.     The 

*  Franklin,  Naturalization  in  the  United  States,  p.  191. 


I 


u  ■ 


r{ 


hi 


m 


I  V    ■ 


398    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

slavery  question  was  not  unrelated  to  the  rise  of  Know- 
Nothingism  in  the  South.  Political  and  religious  factors 
were  ever  placed  in  the  foreground  during  the  Native  Ameri- 
can agitation.  But  it  is  probable  that  lurking  in  the  back- 
ground may  be  found  the  fear  of  the  foreigner  as  an  industrial 
competitor.  Mr.  Hall  remarks:  "It  is  probable  that  the 
Know-Nothing  movement  was  not  purely  the  result  of  sohci- 
tude  for  the  moral  welfare  of  the  country  or  the  apprehension 
for  permanence  of  religious  Kberty.^^'  As  the  slavery  agi- 
tation grew  more  and  more  furious  and  the  movement  toward 
disunion  became  strong,  the  Know-Nothing  party  disinte- 
grated and  disappeared. 

With  the  opening  of  the  Civil  War  the  pendulum  of  public 
opinion  suddenly  swung  to  the  opposite  extreme.  The  army 
was  diverting  men  from  productive  industry;  and  labor 
saving  devices  were  multiplied.  Women,  apprentices,  un- 
skilled workers,  Negroes,  and  immigrants  were  demanded  in 
industry.  By  1864,  less  than  a  decade  after  Know-Nothing- 
ism  was  at  its  height,  immigrants  were  welcomed  by  all 
classes  except  the  wage  earners.  In  that  year  Congress 
passed  an  act  to  encourage  immigration.  This  act  was  passed 
as  a  war  measure  and  was  not  utilized  after  the  close  of  the 
war.  Immigration  was  also  stimulated  during  the  war  period 
by  the  high  nominal  wages,  by  a  depression  in  certain 
European  countries,  and  by  the  artificial  encouragement  of 
immigration  by  American  interests  and  by  the  American 
government.  The  double  need  of  workers  and  soldiers 
caused  the  hatred  of  immigrants  to  be  transmuted  into 
desire  for  their  presence.  "Few  instances  of  such  a  rapid 
and  complete  transformation  in  public  sentiment  can  be  cited 
in  the  whole  history  of  the  country."  2  The  labor  interests 
naturally  opposed  the  stimulation  of  immigration,  because  it 

*  Immigration,  p.  209. 

^  Fite^  Social  and  Industrial  Conditions  during  the  Civil  War,  p.  195. 


IMMIGRATION 


399 


would  tend  to  keep  down  wages  and  to  reduce  the  standard 
of  living.  But  the  voice  of  the  imperfectly  organized 
workers  was  drowned  by  the  insistent  demand  of  other 
classes  in  the  alleged  interest  of  the  general  welfare  and  of 
industrial  progress.  Industrial  necessity  brushed  aside  racial 
and  religious  antagonism. 

Immigration  Problems.  The  important  problems  centering 
around  immigration  may  best  be  considered  from  at  least 
three  somewhat  interrelated  viewpoints: — economic,  political, 
and  racial.  A  fourth  viewpoint  is  frequently  presented;  to  this 
may  be  given  the  designation,  humanitarian  or  sentimental. 
These  viewpoints  must  now  be  considered  in  some  detail. 

I.  Economic.  In  discussing  the  economic  problems  con- 
nected with  immigration,  we  may  look  at  the  matter  from  the 
side  of  production  or  from  the  side  of  distribution,  (a)  Pro- 
duction.  The  first  question  which  appears  under  this  head 
naturally  is :  Do  we  need  a  further  supply  of  wage  earners  in 
this  country?  The  immigrant  has  done  much  of  the  rough 
and  hard  work  of  recent  decades.  He  has  built  the  roadbeds 
of  our  railways,  mined  our  coal  and  iron,  unloaded  our  vessels, 
and  cleaned  our  streets.  The  recent  immigrant  has  performed 
the  crude  manual  labor  necessary  for  the  upbuilding  of  big 
industrial  plants  and  huge  transportation  systems.  His  ser- 
vices in  developing  the  resources  of  the  nation  have  been 
extremely  important.  Many  industries  would  be  almost  de- 
pleted if  divested  of  all  wage  earners  of  foreign  birth  and  of 
those  bom  on  American  soil  but  of  foreign-born  parents. 
If  the  foreign  born  and  the  native  born  of  foreign  parents  were 
removed  from  our  large  cities,  the  latter  would  shrink  to  ap- 
proximately one- third  of  their  present  size.^  In  1900  Chi- 
cago would  have  lost  nearly  four-fifths  of  her  population 
through  an  exodus  of  the  foreign  born  and  the  native  born  of 
foreign  parents. 

^  Rossiter,  Review  of  Reviews.    March,  1907. 


la . 


i 


u; 


400    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  at  any  and  all  times  a  large 
number  of  wage  earners  out  of  employment.  The  statement  is 
frequently  made  that  large-scale  industry  requires  a  large  float- 
ing and  unemployed  labor  force.  Immigration  undoubtedly 
adds  to  this  number.  In  periods  of  prosperity  this  floating 
mass  of  the  unemployed  is  partially  absorbed;  in  times  of 
depression  the  amount  often  becomes  considerable.  The 
State  of  Massachusetts  has  compiled  fairly  accurate  statis- 
tics of  unemployment  among  the  organized  workers  of  the 
state.  In  the  quarter  ending  March  31,  1908,  the  percentage 
of  idle  members  of  the  labor  organizations  reporting  to  the 
Bureau  of  Statistics  was  17.9  per  cent.  Two  years  later,  in 
the  corresponding  quarter,  the  percentage  was  7.06.^  The 
first  figure  represented  conditions  during  a  period  of  depres- 
sion; the  second  one  of  average  business  activity.  Among 
the  unorganized  workers  no  accurate  figures  are  obtainable; 
but  it  is  reasonable  to  assume  that  the  percentage  of  unem- 
ployment is  somewhat  larger  than  in  the  ranks  of  organized 
labor. 

Many  seasonal  industries  frequently  are  unable  to  obtain 
sufficient  workers  during  the  rush  period  of  the  year.  But 
even  when  viewed  solely  from  the  standpoint  of  production, 
it  may  with  propriety  be  asked:  Is  the  best  remedy  in- 
creasing the  labor  supply  or  is  it  the  dovetailing  of  industries 
so  as  to  spread  the  demand  more  equally  over  the  entire 
year?  Psychologists  and  sociologists  assert  that  irregular 
working  habits  are  demoralizing  to  the  workers.  In  so  far  as 
excessive  immigration  accentuates  the  evil  of  fluctuation  in 
employment  in  a  given  year  or  series  of  years,  it  has  an 
injurious  influence  upon  production. 

A  substitute  for  labor,  particularly  of  the  unskilled  type,  is 
found  in  improved  machinery.  Wage  earners  having  a  low 
standard  of  living  and  who  are  willing  to  accept  low  wages 

*  Labor  Bulletin.    No.  72,  May,  1910- 


IMMIGRATION 


401 


tend  to  delay  the  introduction  of  improved  machinery  to 
perform  simple  and  routine  tasks.  A  sufficient  supply  of 
wage  earners  eager  to  accept  low  wages  for  shoveling  coal 
will  delay  the  introduction  of  coal  unloading  devices  in  the 
docks  of  our  cities.  Any  change  which  diminishes  the  supply 
of  labor  and  tends  to  raise  wages  will  stimulate  the  invention 
of  labor  saving  devices.  Child  labor,  woman  labor,  and  the 
immigration  of  unskilled  and  low-standard-of-living  workers 
tend  to  delay  the  introduction  of  improved  machinery.  It  is 
frequently  urged  that,  without  the  low-standard-of-living 
immigrant  who  is  willing  to  work  for  low  wages,  many  of  the 
less  productive  resources  would  remain  unexploited.  Such 
a  view  overlooks  the  possibility  of  utilizing  improved  machin- 
ery in  the  absence  of  a  mass  of  unskilled  labor.  Certainly 
the  day  is  past  when  the  development  of  the  resources  of  a 
country  is  more  dependent  upon  the  presence  of  a  mass  of 
cheap  and  unskilled  labor  than  it  is  upon  the  utilization 
of  the  results  of  scientific  research  and  mechanical  inge- 
nuity. Cheap  labor  retards  rather  than  accelerates  industrial 
progress. 

Immigration  has,  however,  increased  the  minuteness  of  the 
subdivision  of  labor.  The  incentive  to  subdivision  of  labor 
is  rather  a  diminution  of  the  wage  bill  than  an  increase  in  the 
total  amount  produced.  The  presence  of  unskilled  workers 
willing  to  accept  low  wages  enables  the  employer  to  split 
up  what  has  been  a  skilled  or  semi-skilled  operation  into 
perhaps  three  or  four  operations.  Only  a  fraction  of  the 
originaroperation  remains  in  the  hands  of  the  skilled  opera- 
tive; the  remaining  portions  are  passed  over  to  the  unskilled 
worker.  Thus,  the  total  price  paid  for  a  given  complex 
operation  or  job  may  be  considerably  reduced.  Immigration 
has  hastened  and  increased  subdivision  of  labor.  The  micro- 
scopic division  of  labor  in  the  Chicago  meat  packing  plants 
is,  in  no  small  measure,  due  to  the  influx  of  the  immigrant 


f*) 


fit  I 

1:1 


I 


hi 

(I'i 


I**  s 


I*  ■ 


I 


402    fflSTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

from  southern  Europe.  It  may  seem  almost  paradoxical  to 
affirm  that  immigration,  since  it  furnishes  a  supply  of  unskilled 
labor,  tends  to  increase  subdivision  of  labor,  and  also  that  it 
tends  to  delay  the  introduction  of  labor  saving  devices.  Re- 
ferring again  to  the  meat  packing  industry,  where  immigration 
has  produced  such  a  notable  effect  in  increasing  the  subdivi- 
sion of  labor,  a  cessation  of  the  influx  of  immigrants  —  men, 
women,  and  children  —  cutting  off  an  important  source  of 
labor  supply,  would  undoubtedly  cause  many  simple  and 
routine  tasks  now  performed  by  hand  to  be  performed  by 
machinery.  While  immigration  does  tend  to  increase  sub- 
division of  labor  and  thus  produces  favorable  conditions  for 
the  invention  of  labor  saving  devices,  it  at  the  same  time 
also  tends  to  delay  the  introduction  of  such  appliances. 

The  value  of  the  immigrant  from  the  standpoint  of  pro- 
duction depends  not  only  upon  the  need  of  more  skilled  and 
unskilled  wage  earners,  but  also  upon  the  distribution  of  the 
immigrants.  Can  the  immigrant  be  sent  where  he  is  needed? 
The  question  of  the  distribution  of  immigrants  has  attracted 
much»attention  in  recent  decades.  Many  writers  have  pointed 
out  that  the  immigrants  of  recent  years  collect  in  the  cities 
where  they  are  not  needed.  Segregation  in  the  crowded  quar- 
ters of  our  large  cities  has  dangerous  political  and  social,  as 
well  as  economic,  evils.  Segregation  of  the  incoming  horde 
from  Europe  creates  a  little  Italy,  a  little  Russia,  and  a  little 
Servia  in  the  heart  of  more  than  one  great  American  city. 
As  a  consequence  the  inhabitants  of  these  sections  of  our 
cities  know  little  of  American  life,  ideals,  and  standards  of 
living.  Problems  connected  with  charity,  public  and  private 
sanitation,  housing,  sweat  shops,  unemployment,  education, 
religious  and  political  training,  and  the  maintenance  of  order 
are  rendered  complex  and  difficult  of  solution. 

The  congestion  of  immigrants  in  the  cities  is  accompanied^ 
it  is  often  asserted,  by  scarcity  of  labor  in  the  agricultural 


IMMIGRATION 


403 


districts.  Many  farms  are  not  worked  to  the  best  advantage 
or  to  their  fullest  capacity  because  of  the  lack  of  workers. 
The  New  York  Immigration  Commission,  after  a  study  of  the 
immigration  statistics  for  the  seven  years  1902  to  1908, 
inclusive,  found  that  1,043,492  immigrants  had  been  farmers 
in  their  home  country;  but  only  a  small  percentage  of  the 
total  became  farmers  in  their  adopted  country.  The  Com- 
missioner of  Immigration  in  his  report  for  1903  pointed  to 
the  cities  as  ''  the  congested  places  in  the  industrial  body  which 
check  the  free  circulation  of  labor.'*  Two  years  later  the 
Commissioner  was  more  optimistic.  The  aliens,  he  said, 
seemed  to  be  somewhat  better  distributed  than  in  former 
years.  The  rush  to  the  large  cities  was,  in  his  opinion,  checked. 
But  again,  in  the  1908  report,  it  was  held  that  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  division  to  encourage  proper  distribution 
occurred  none  too  soon. 

The  immigration  act  of  1907  contained  a  section  providing 
for  the  establishment  of  a  Division  of  Information.  The 
purpose  of  this  portion  of  the  act  has  been  interpreted  by  the 
Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor  as  follows:  "first,  to 
bring  about  a  distribution  of  immigrants  arriving  in  this 
country,  thus  preventing,  as  far  as  possible,  the  congestion 
in  our  larger  Atlantic  seaport  cities  that  has  attended  the 
immigration  of  recent  years;  and  second,  to  supply  informa- 
tion to  all  of  our  workers,  whether  native,  foreign  born,  or 
alien,  so  that  they  may  be  constantly  advised  in  respect  to 
every  part  of  this  country  as  to  what  kind  of  labor  may  be  in 
demand,  the  conditions  surrounding  it,  the  rate  of  wages, 
and  the  cost  of  living  in  the  respective  localities."^ 

This  division  is  to  act  as  a  sort  of  labor  exchange  to  facili- 
tate the  work  of  bringing  the  unemployed  worker  and  a  job 
together.    No  far-reaching  scheme  of  distribution  is  con- 
templated.    It  is  worthy  of    otice  that  the  Secretary  expects 
*  Report  of  the  Commissioner-General  of  Immigration  (1908),  p.  223. 


i 

I,  .■■  ' 


r 

U 

P' 


404     HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

tliis  division  to  aid  native  as  well  as  immigrant  workingmen. 
Under  proper  regulation  such  legislation  may  be  beneficial; 
but  difficult  problems  will  undoubtedly  arise.  For  example, 
what  should  be  the  attitude  of  the  division  in  case  of  a  strike? 
Should  this  division  direct  workers  to  points  where  wages  are 
low?  Should  this  division  merely  state  facts  in  cold  figures,  or 
should  it  transmute  those  figures  into  terms  of  cost  of  living, 
home  and  working  conditions,  and  the  like?  The  charge 
that  the  division  has  been  furnishing  strike  breakers  has  been 
made.^  The  work  of  the  division  has  been  chiefly  directed 
toward  sending  the  unemployed  into  the  farming  districts. 

Contrary  to  the  general  opinion  and  to  oft-repeated  asser- 
tions. Professor  Willcox,  after  a  careful  study  of  immigration 
statistics,  finds  no  evidence  of  a  *  disadvantageous  or  danger- 
ous tendency  toward  cities  "  on  the  part  of  recent  immigrants. ^ 
This  careful  student  fails  to  find  a  stronger  tendency  on  the 
part  of  inMnigrants  toward  urban  life  than  that  displayed 
by  natives.  The  same  economic  motives  and  opportunities 
which  have  lured  the  farmer  boy  from  the  old  homestead 
impel  the  immigrant  to  remain  in  the  city. 

Granting,  however,  that  there  is  undue  crowding  and  con- 
gestion in  our  cities,  the  question  arises:  With  unrestricted 
immigration,  will  distribution  go  far  toward  minimizing  the 
evils  of  city  congestion  and  the  difficulties  associated  with  it? 
Certainly  the  distribution  of  our  slum  population  throughout 
the  rural  districts  will  avail  little  from  the  standpoint  of  pro- 
duction, unless  the  recent  immigrants  are  fitted  to  carry  on 
agriculture  according  to  American  methods.  The  man  from 
southern  Europe  is  not  well  qualified  to  go  into  the  undevel- 
oped portions  of  the  United  States.  He  is  by  nature  and  by 
training  imfitted  for  work  requiring  initiative,  foresight,  and 

*  Report  for  1909,  pp.  232-233. 

'  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  August,  1906.  For  a  criticism  of  this 
article,  see  Fairchiid  in  The  Yale  Review,  November,  1907. 


IMMIGRATION 


405 


hard  arid  prolonged  physical  endeavor.  Again,  the  demand 
for  labor  in  the  agricultural  districts  is,  in  a  large  measure, 
seasonal.  Workers  cannot  be  expected  to  go  to  some  dis- 
tant rural  district  when  work  is  only  offered  for  a  portion 
of  the  year.  Positions  as  harvest  hands  are  not  particularly 
inviting.  Wholesale  distribution  of  immigrants  in  rural  dis- 
tricts would  cause  the  growth  of  rural  colonies  of  foreigners. 
Certain  of  the  political,  social,  and  economic  dangers  of  city 
segregation  would  inevitably  appear.  To  relieve  the  pressure 
in  the  cities  by  distribution  would  cause  increased  migration 
of  the  redundant  population  of  Europe  to  our  shores  to  fill  the 
places  made  vacant  by  those  removed  to  the  rural  districts. 
*'Just  as  we  have  already  seen  that  the  tide  of  immigration 
rises  with  a  period  of  prosperity  in  America,  so  would  it 
rise  with  agricultural  distribution  of  immigrants.  Both  are 
simply  more  openings  for  employment  and  the  knowledge 
of  such  opportunities  is  promptly  carried  to  the  waiting 
multitudes  abroad."^ 

Transportation  companies  have  been  eager  to  encourage 
the  growth  of  seatiment  in  favor  of  distribution  of  immigrants. 
Distribution  means  an  increase  in  railway  and  steamboat 
fares.  Many  humanitarians  have  espoused  various  schemes 
for  the  distribution  of  immigrants.  Another  example  is  thus 
furnished  of  a  union  between  sordid  and  humanitarian 
interests.  "The  proposition  of  federal  distribution  of  immi- 
grants is  merely  a  clever  illusion  kept  up  to  lead  Congress 
astray  from  the  restriction  of  immigration. "2  The  prob- 
lems of  city  congestion,  the  sweat-shop,  unemplo>Tnent,  or 
improper  distribution  of  the  labor  force  of  the  country  are 
not  to  be  cured  by  restricting,  distributing,  or  even  prohib- 
iting immigration.  These  measures  may,  however,  alleviate 
some  of  the  evils. 

*  Commons,  Races  and  Immigrants,  p.  228. 
'  Commons,  ibid.,  p.  230. 


406     HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

Immigrants  bring  with  them  considerable  sums  of  money, 
but  they  also  send  back  large  sums  to  the  home  country. 
Those  who  return  after  living  for  a  period  of  years  in  this 
country  usually  take  with  them  more  than  they  brought. 
The  amount  of  money  shown  by  immigrants  during  the  fiscal 
year  of  1909  was  $17,331,828.  Out  of  a  total  immigration 
of  751,786  over  one-half,  or  482,859,  brought  less  than  $50 
apiece.  This  sum  is  less  than  the  total  amount  of  money 
actually  brought  into  the  country.  The  immigrants  do  not 
always  disclose  the  total  amount  carried  by  them;  and  much 
money  is  sent  ahead  through  banking  institutions.  In  1906 
over  400,000  money  orders  were  sent  to  Italy.  The  total 
amount  of  the  orders  was  in  round  numbers  $16,400,000.^ 
In  the  single  year  of  1906  money  orders  were  sent  to  one 
European  country  which  nearly  equaled  the  entire  amount 
of  money  shown  by  all  the  immigrants  of  the  fiscal  year  of 
1909.  During  the  first  three  weeks  of  January,  191 1,  the 
daily  average  of  money  orders  sent  from  Kalamazoo,  Michi- 
gan, to  Poland,  was  $133.98.  One  rough  estimate  fixes  the 
total  amount  of  money  sent  abroad  by  immigrants  during  a 
year  of  ordinary  prosperity  at  $200,000,000. 

The  economic  value  of  the  immigrant  himself  ought  not  to 
be  overlooked. 2  The  average  immigrant  comes  here  full- 
grown.  The  expense  of  bringing  the  individual  to  manhood 
or  womanhood  has  fallen  upon  the  home  country.  The 
expense  of  "bringing  up"  an  individual  is,  however,  no 
accurate  or  adequate  measure  of  his  value  to  his  adopted 
country.  Efficiency  and  character  are  more  important  in 
valuing  the  economic  worth  of  a  man.  But  the  nation  re- 
ceiving a  full-grown  immigrant  is  relieved  of  certain  expenses 
involved  in  developing  the  young.    Any  gain  of  this  sort  is 

*  Taylor,  Charities  and  the  Commons.     May  4,  1907,  pp.  1 71-172. 
'  This  point  is  discussed  at  length  in  Smith's  Emigration  and  Immigrationi 
pp.  102-122. 


IMMIGRATION 


407 


discounted  in  a  large  measure  by  the  social  and  economic 
adjustments  incidental  to  immigration,  —  unemployment, 
increase  in  pauperism,  disease,  and  delinquency. 

(b)  Distribution.  From  the  standpoint  of  the  nation  as  a 
unit,  and  particularly  from  that  of  the  wage  earners  of  the 
country,  the  vital  economic  problems  in  connection  with 
immigration  relate,  not  to  production,  but  to  distribution,  — 
to  its  influence  upon  wages  and  the  standard  of  living  of  the  ^'^ 
wage  earning  classes.  The  shifting  of  the  chief  sources  of 
immigration  from  northern  to  southern  Europe  brought  the 
competition  between  standards  of  living  into  the  foreground. 
The  optimistic  view  is  well  presented  by  President  Hadley. 
According  to  this  conservative  writer  immigration  has  been 
a  cause  of  the  uplift  of  the  native  and  of  the  immigrant  of 
preceding  decades.  The  native  workers  have  been  compelled 
"  to  rise  or  die."  John  Mitchell,  speaking  for  organized  labor, 
voices  an  entirely  different  sentiment:  "The  American 
people  should  not  sacrifice  the  future  of  the  working  classes 
in  order  to  improve  the  conditions  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Europe,  and  it  is  even  questionable  whether  an  unregulated 
immigration  would  improve  the  conditions  of  Europe  and 
Asia,  although  it  is  certain  that  it  would  degrade  and  injure 
the  conditions  of  labor  in  this  country."  These  views,  which 
seem  to  be  widely  divergent,  may  be  partially,  but  not  com- 
pletely, harmonized  when  it  is  noticed  that  Mr.  Hadley's 
eyes  are  focused  upon  the  past  while  Mr.  Mitchell  is  dealing 
with  the  decade  1900  to  1909.  The  investigations  of  the 
Immigration  Commission  appointed  in  1907  support  Mr. 
Mitchell's  contention.  Their  investigations  show  ''an  over- 
supply  of  unskilled  labor  in  basic  industries  to  an  extent  which 
indicates  an  oversupply  of  unskilled  labor  in  industries  of  the 
country  as  a  whole." 

President  Hadley  evidently  saw  only  one  phase  of  the 
matter.    Many  natives  were  forced  up  in  the  scale,  but  many 


4o8    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

others  less  fortunate  were  forced  out  to  become  the  wreckage 
of  humanity;  and  still  others  were  obliged  to  lower  their 
standard  of  living  to  meet  that  of  the  newly  arrived  immigrant. 
And  how,  as  a  rule,  did  the  native  American  rise?  By  de- 
laying marriage  and  by  reducing  the  average  size  of  families 
—  race  suicide  —  or  through  the  instrumentality  of  some 
special  privilege  which  enables  him  to  exploit  the  newcomers. 
President  Walker's  contention  that  immigration  has  not 
increased  the  population  but  merely  replaced  the  native  with 
foreign  stock,  is  oft-quoted  and  well  known. 

Granting,  however,  that  President  Hadley's  argument  is  in 
some  degree  tenable  if  applied  to  earlier  decades,  it  must  of 
necessity  be  discarded  when  applied  to  the  present.  Low 
standards  of  living  on  the  part  of  unskilled  workers  menace 
the  higher  standards  of  the  skilled  workers.  The  skilled  man 
is  recognizing  this  fact;  and  he  is  found  frequently  joining 
hands  with  the  unskilled  to  right  the  grievances  of  the  latter. 
As  bad  money  drives  out  the  good,  so  does  cheap  labor  tend 
to  drive  out  those  demanding  a  higher  standard  of  living. 
It  is  apparently  a  case  of  the  survival  of  the  unfit. 

In  the  cotton  mills,  in  the  meat  packing  industry,  in  the  coal 
mines,  in  the  clothing  industry,  and  elsewhere,  one  nationality 
has  been  displaced  by  another  satisfied  with  a  lower  standard 
of  living.  In  turn  the  second  has  been  displaced  by  a  third, 
and  so  on.  Wave  after  wave  of  immigrants  may  be  traced  in 
the  history  of  one  of  these  industries.  "As  rapidly  as  a  race 
rises  in  the  scale  of  living,  and  through  organization  begins 
to  demand  higher  wages  and  resist  the  pressure  of  long  hours 
and  over-exertion,  the  employers  substitute  another  race  and 
the  process  is  repeated.  Each  race  comes  from  a  country 
lower  in  the  scale  than  that  of  the  preceding,  until  finally 
the  ends  of  the  earth  have  been  ransacked  in  the  search  for  low 
standards  of  living  combined  with  patient  industriousness.'^* 

*  Commons,  p.  152. 


IMMIGRATION 


409 


Race  prejudice  is  at  bottom  largely  due  to  economic  fric- 
tion and  the  competition  of  standards  of  living.  Cut-throat 
competition  between  different  nationalities  causes  wages  to 
be  reduced,  or  the  worker  to  be  speeded  up,  or  both.  With- 
out efficient  organization  among  the  workers,  which  is  diffi- 
cult in  the  face  of  hordes  of  incoming  low-grade  industrial 
workers,  wages  in  the  unskilled  occupations  drop  to  the  mini- 
mum of  subsistence.  This  minimum  is  higher  than  that  of 
Europe  because  of  the  greater  exertion  on  the  part  of  the 
workers,  required  by  the  American  employer;  and  because 
compulsory  education  laws  and  laws  prohibiting  child  labor 
in  many  states  compel  the  immigrant  to  support  his  children 
until  they  are  fourteen  years  of  age. 

Unions  of  the  unskilled  or  of  the  semi-skilled,  particularly 
in  the  eastern  part  of  the  United  States,  have  severely  felt 
the  disintegrating  influence  of  immigration.  There  are  some 
reasons,  however,  for  believing  that  in  the  future  European 
immigration  will  not  offer  such  a  serious  obstacle  to  organiza- 
tions as  it  has  in  the  past.  •  Today,  when  the  Italian  or  the 
Slav  arrives,  he  meets  his  countrymen.  If  the  standard  of 
living  of  the  latter  has  been  raised,  the  newcomer  can  be 
acted  upon  much  more  easily  and  quickly  than  was  the  case 
when  Italian  and  Slavic  immigration  began.  Labor  unions 
contain  many  of  the  immigrant's  countrymen,  and  they 
welcome  his  entrance  into  the  union  fold.  Many  recent 
examples  of  strong  and  coherent  organization  among  the 
unskilled  and  the  recent  immigrants  indicate  that  the 
newcomer  readily  learns  to  look  to  some  form  of  labor 
organization  for  protection  and  assistance. 

Immigration  to  this  country  has  a  reflex  influence  which 
tends  to  improve  conditions  in  the  country  from  which  the 
immigrant  comes.  Many  return  to  the  home  country  with 
new  ideals  and  methods,  and  with  sums  of  money  which 
enable  them  to  live  better  than  formerly.    A  new  standard 


I  •■I 

m 


i<f*<   i. 


!; 


\i 


iM 


410    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

of  living  is  fixed  by  the  returning  peasant  and  the  others  see 
a  new  social  ideal  and  are  stirred  into  unwonted  life  and 
activity.  The  money  sent  back  to  relatives  remaining  at 
home  also  has  a  potent  effect.  Many  towns  in  southern  Italy 
have  improved  perceptibly.  Better  homes  are  built,  and  the 
old  rigid  class  demarcations  tend  to  break  down.  Squalor 
gives  way  to  something  better.  In  due  time  a  change  of 
this  sort  will  improve  the  character  of  the  average  immigrant. 
In  the  future  it  will  be  immigration  from  India,  China,  and 
Japan,  rather  than  from  Europe,  which  will  menace  the 
wages  and  standards  of  living  of  the  American  workman. 

Restriction  of  immigration  has  been  called  the  laborer^s 
protective  tariff.  Immigration  means  cheap  labor.  In  the 
absence  of  laws  adequately  restricting  immigration,  organi- 
zation of  the  immigrant  wage  earners  is  a  matter  of  self- 
defense  on  the  part  of  the  wage  earners  already  within  the 
union.  If  organized  labor  is  able  to  increase  wages  and  to 
shorten  the  length  of  the  working  day,  it  is  not  unlikely  that 
an  insistent  demand  will  arise  from  the  employing  class  for  a 
repeal  of  the  present  contract  labor  law.  The  Southern 
states,  eager  for  workers,  are  anxious  to  offer  inducements  to 
prospective  immigrants.  The  Attorney- General  has  ruled 
however,  "that,  if  a  representative  of  a  state  or  territory 
induces  an  alien  to  immigrate  by  holding  out  to  him  individ- 
ually a  promise  of  employment,  such  alien  is  inadmissible."  * 
States  and  territories  may  legally  advertise,  setting  forth  the 
opportunities  offered  by  them.  In  November,  1906,  473  Bel- 
gians came  to  South  Carolina  in  response  to  an  advertisement 
made  in  Europe  by  the  State  Commissioner  of  Immigration. 
The  demand  for  cheap  labor  caused  the  introduction  of 
negro  slaves  and  of  indentured  servants  into  the  country; 
and  likewise  much  of  our  recent  immigration  is  due  to  the 
same  cause. 

*  Report  of  the  Commissioner-General  of  Immigration,  1908,  p.  133. 


IMMIGRATION 


411 


2.  Political  Problems.    Immigration  caused  by  the  demand 
for  cheap  labor,  and  leading  to  a  conglomeration  of  races  and 
nationalities  and  to  a  gradual,  stiffening  stratification  of  classes, 
has  been  an  important  factor  in  complicating  politics  in  a 
nominally  democratic  country.    Political  corruption  is  not 
solely  the  product  of  the  influx  of  immigrants  unaccustomed 
to  democracy  or  liberalism;  but  the  successive  waves  of  im- 
migration have  prepared  a  fertile  soil  for  the  cultivation  of 
corrupt  practices  which  eat  out  the  vitals  of  democracy  and 
promise  to  leave  it  a  hollow  mockery  which  conceals  a  power- 
ful plutocracy.    Mr.  Steffens  found  that  political  corruption 
was  rampant  in  the  rural  districts  of  Rhode  Island  where  few 
of  the  recent  immigrants  make  their  homes;  and  Adams 
County,  Ohio,  made  notorious  because  a  large  percentage  of 
the  voters  were  found  guilty  of  selling  their  votes,  contains 
few  recent  immigrants.     Corruption  in  poKtics  is  primarily 
due  to  the  interference  of  private  economic  interests  with 
public  business;  but  wide  differentiation  of  interests  and  races 
increases  the  opportunities  for  such  interferences.    The  politi- 
cal machine,  directed  by  the  boss,  maintains  and  strengthens 
its  power  and  influence  by  carefully  and  skilfully  balancing 
nationalities  and  interests  against  each  other.     The  colorless 
man  possessing  a  flexible  backbone  and  no  important  and 
well  defined  opinions  of  his  own  comes  to  the  front;  and  the 
colorless  man  is  the  visible  tool  of  the  boss.     The  latter  in 
turn  is  controlled  by  men  desiring  special  privileges  and 
favorable  legislation.     "Representative  democracy  becomes 
bossocracy  in  the  service  of  plutocracy;"  —  and  immigration 
has  made  the  transition  easy  although  difficult  to  observe. 

A  strain  is  put  upon  democratic  institutions,  because  in  the 
first  place,  many  of  the  newcomers  have  developed  under  a 
paternalistic  form  of  government  and  are  not  prepared  to 
readily  adopt  and  conserve  the  institutions  and  governmental 
ideals  of  English  speaking  people.    Further  difficulties  arise 


/ 


i' 

Hi 


' ; 


m 


•i 


1 


412     HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

because  a  representative  is  supposed  to  properly  and  ade- 
quately represent  all  the  people  in  a  given  ward  or  legislative 
district.  In  a  given  district  are  frequently  found  employers 
and  employees,  landlords  and  tenants,  unionists  and  union- 
smashers,  American,  German,  and  Slav,  Protestant,  Roman 
Catholic,  and  Jew,  Negro  and  Caucasian.  Not  even  the  most 
agile  politician  can  hope  to  represent  the  divergent  interests 
and  ideals  of  the  people  in  the  ordinary  legislative  district 

or  ward. 

The  introduction  of  home  rule  for  cities  has  been  delayed 
by  the  presence  in  our  cities  of  large  foreign  populations. 
Such  matters  as  those  connected  with  the  enforcement  of  laws 
and  with  the  prohibition  of  the  liquor  traffic  are  the  subjects 
of  fierce  controversy  because  of  the  diverse  moral  standards 
of  people  of  different  nationaUties  and  racial  experiences 
living  within  a  given  state  or  city.  Economic  reforms  in 
cities  are  often  delayed  because  the  question  of  law  enforce- 
ment can  be  utilized  to  divert  attention  from  vital  economic 
questions  affecting  the  welfare  of  the  great  majority  of  the 
population.  Unfortunately,  the  humanitarian  element  in 
the  community— those  who  are  interested  in  improving  the 
moral  tone  and  the  physical  well-being  of  the  community, 
and  who  are  fighting  the  saloon,  factory  evils,  the  white  slave 
traffic,  and  the  like  —  is  often  forced  into  alignment  >^ath  the 
interests  which  are  bitterly  opposed  to  progressive  economic 
programs  that  strike  at  special  privileges.^ 

On  the  other  hand,  the  immigrant  is  usually  accustomed  to 
some  form  of  social  organization.  He  is  not  as  individualistic 
as  is  the  typical  native  American.  He  can  be  organized  with 
others  into  labor  unions;  and  when  the  unskilled  immigrants 
from  a  variety  of  birthplaces  are  thus  associated,  the  result- 
ing union  is  usually  strong,  coherent,  and  easily  directed  by 
capable  and  enthusiastic  leaders.     The  McKees  Rocks  strike 

1  See  Commons,  Chapter  VIIL 


il 


IMMIGRATION 


413 


furnishes  an  excellent  illustration  of  the  solidarity  of  the 
unskilled  when  organized.  Is  it  unreasonable  to  assume  that 
it  will  not  prove  an  insurmountable  task  to  organize  these  men 
politically  in  such  a  way  as  to  break  down  the  power  of  the 
boss  who  has  built  his  machine  upon  interest  and  racial 
differences? 

3.  Racial  Problems.  The  inordinate  self-satisfaction  of  the 
average  individual  of  Anglo-Saxon  extraction  has  led  to  a 
gross  and  persistent  exaggeration  of  the  danger  of  racial  and 
national  deterioration  as  a  consequence  of  the  heterogeneity 
of  the  immigration  of  recent  decades.  It  is  urged  that  a 
dangerously  large  percentage  of  immigrants  are  weaklings,  and 
diseased  and  degenerate  persons;  but  we  are  annually  pro- 
ducing large  numbers  of  such  persons  because  of  over-driving, 
long  working  hours,  insanitary  conditions  in  homes  and  fac- 
tories, over-crowding,  the  consumption  of  improper  and  adul- 
terated food,  and  the  spread  of  venereal  diseases.  *'Race 
suicide"  is  alleged  to  be  almost  solely  the  result  of  immigra- 
tion; but  the  birth-rate  has  also  declined  in  New  Zealand  and 
Australia,  countries  little  troubled  by  immigration.^  The 
fear  is  frequently  expressed  that  deterioration  will  be  the 
inevitable  effect  of  the  racial  mixture  incidental  to  immigra- 
tion. While  the  mixture  of  races  widely  differing  from  each 
other  may  be  a  menace,  exceptional  racial  purity  is  not  con- 
ducive of  a  high  type  of  civilization.  "Modern  civilized 
nations  are  formed,  developed,  and  become  world-powers 
regardless  of  their  racial  composition."  ^  In  fact,  with  the 
development  of  large  cities,  huge  industrial  establishments, 
systematized  industry,  and  social  interdependence,  it  is  es- 
sential that  the  crude  aggressive  individualism  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  frontiersman  be  toned  down.    The  assimilation  of  the 

*  See  article  by  the  writer  in  The  Arena,  Dec,  1906. 

*  Fishberg,  Report  of  the  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction,  1906,  p.  304. 
See  also  Finot,  Race  Prejudices. 


If 


Pi 


\U 


4T4    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

culture  of  the  immigrants  from  southern  Europe  may  modify 
American  traits  and  characteristics  in  a  very  desirable 
manner.* 

The  important  racial  and  political  problems  connected  with 
immigration  center  around  the  Americanization  of  the  immi- 
grant. Americanization  does  not  necessarily  mean  amalgama- 
tion but  rather  the  development  of  a  fair  degree  of  unanimity 
of  thought  and  action.  While  the  immigrant  is  subjected  to 
various  forces  which  tend  to  '* Americanize"  him,  the  fact 
must  not  be  overlooked  that  each  new  racial  or  national 
ingredient  contributes  its  mite  to  modify  American  life  and 
ideals.  The  resultant  Americanism  is  not  the  puritanical 
Americanism  of  tradition.  Americanism  is  then  a  changing 
concept  which  bears  the  impress  of  racial  mixture  and 
economic  transformation.  It  has  been  pointed  out  that  in 
New  York  City  the  Jews  practically  control  the  theater  and 
music  hall  business,  own  about  one-half  of  the  newspapers, 
compose  a  considerable  percentage  of  the  public  school 
teachers,  and  are  very  prominent  in  banking  and  mercantile 
circles.  Surely  a  people  that  have  much  to  do  with  direct- 
ing the  press,  the  school  system,  and  the  amusements  of 
a  city,  exercise  a  powerful  molding  influence  upon  the 
community. 

The  two  important  Americanizing  institutions  are  the  pub- 
lic school  system  and  the  labor  organizations.  The  former 
reaches  the  child  of  the  immigrant  at  the  plastic  period  in  the 
life  of  the  young,  and  indirectly  it  modifies  the  adult  immigrant 
himself.  The  public  school  is  a  democratic  institution.  Chil- 
dren from  various  classes  and  nationalities  meet  in  the  class- 
room and  mingle  together  on  the  playground  upon  a  plane 
of  equality.  The  hostility  between  nationalities,  which  is 
nurtured  through  ignorance  and  lack  of  contact,  is  reduced. 
The  school  gives  its  heterogeneous  mass  of  pupils  certain 
*  See  the  writer's  Education  and  Industrial  Evolution,  pp.  57-59. 


IMMIGRATION  413 

common  interests.  The  English  language  is  taught  to  all 
pupils;  this  is  doubtless  an  essential  for  Americanization. 
The  public  school  also  instils  into  the  immigrant  child  a 
knowledge  of  American  history  and  of  our  national  traditions. 
Industrial  training,  domestic  science,  and  the  experience  upon 
the  playground  make  the  boys  and  giris  more  efficient  and 
healthy  young  people.  An  opportunity  is  thus  afforded  for 
progress  toward  the  higher  standards  of  living. 

The  union  touches  the  adult.     It  uses  the  potent  bread  and 
butter  argument:  ''Join  the  union  and  your  wages  will  be 
raised,  your  working  day  shortened,  and  you  will  be  given 
better  treatment."    Such  is  the  oft-repeated  story  poured  into 
the  ears  of  the  newcomer.     The  union  aims  to  create  dis- 
content with  low  wages  and  low  standards  of  living,  and 
Americanization  can  only  come  to  the  low-standard-of-living 
immigrant  worker  as  his  wages  are  increased  and  his  standard 
of  living  raised.     The  union  is  only  effecrive  with  industrial 
workers  in  cities  and  mining  towns.     The  agriculturalists, 
the  fruit  venders,  and  many  kinds  of  common  labor  are  not 
as  yet    reached  by    the  labor  organization.    The  growing 
strength  of  industrial  unionism  indicates  that  the  union  is 
gaining  in  potency  as  an  Americanizing  influence. 

How  does  the  union  Americanize  the  immigrant?  An 
answer  which  has  been  given  to  this  question  may  well  be 
summarized,  i.  The  union  teaches  self-government.  The  im- 
migrant learns  to  remedy  grievances  through  the  use  of  the 
ballot.  He  learns  that  he  must  obey  officers  elected  by  the 
membership  of  the  union.  2.  The  union  gives  the  immigrant 
the   sense   of    a   common   cause  and  of  a  public  interest. 

3.  Different  nationalities  are  thrown  into  a  common  group,  and 
they  soon   adopt   a   common   way  of    thinking  and  acting. 

4.  Foreigners  are  thrown  into  intimate  contact  with  those  who 
have  partially  adopted  American  customs  and  ideals.  The  re- 
cent immigrant  hastens  to  follow  in  their  footsteps.    5.  Unions 


»  •1 

1 1 


I 


h 


416    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

usually  require  members  to  be  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
or  to  have  declared  their  intention  to  become  citizens. 
6.  It  reduces  the  fear  of  the  boss  and  introduces  the  idea  of  par- 
tial control  of  industr>^  by  the  employee.  7.  The  union  raises 
the  wages  of  the  immigrant,  shortens  his  working  day,  and 
improves  his  working  conditions.  8.  It  reduces  the  feeling 
of  antagonism  often  existing  between  different  nationalities.* 

Immigration  from  southern  Europe  has  increased  the  per- 
centage of  Catholic  and  Jewish  immigrants.  Some  of  the 
Eastern  states  which  in  the  past  stamped  the  North  and  the 
West  with  the  form  of  local  government,  and  with  the  religious 
ideals  which  are  traditionally  known  as  American,  now  find 
themselves  becoming  pr  dominantly  Roman  Catholic.  The 
industrial  workers  of  the  country  are  Catholic  rather  than 
Protestant.  The  organization  and  methods  of  the  denom- 
inational churches  tend  to  make  these  bodies  inefficient 
Americanizing  agents.  Only  recently  have  the  Protestant 
denominations  awakened  to  the  gravity  of  the  situation;  and 
they  are  finding  it  difficult  to  throw  aside  the  traditional  and 
inherited  methods  which  may  have  been  efficient  in  a  rural 
community  of  a  few  generations  ago,  but  which  are  very 
inefficient  in  reaching  the  average  industrial  workers  of  our 
cities  and  towns.  The  social  settlement,  the  home  mission- 
ary societies,  and  the  "institutional  church"  are  reaching 
out  for  the  aliens  living  in  our  industrial  centers;  but  only 
after  a  radical  modification  in  its  methods  can  the  average 
Protestant  church  hope  to  be  an  important  influence  in  the 
Americanization  of  the  immigrant. 

4.  The  Sentimental  Argument.  The  oldest  and  most 
familiar  argument  used  in  opposition  to  pleas  of  the  wage 
earners  for  restrictive  legislation  is  the  sentimental  or  human- 
itarian.   America,  symbolized  by  the  great  statue  in  New 

1  Huebner,  "The  Americanization  of  the  Immigrant,"  The  Annols  of  tht 
American  Academy.     May,  1906,  pp.  204-205, 


IMMIGRATION 


417 


York  harbor,  must  be  the  haven  of  refuge  for  the  oppressed 
and  the  hopeless  of  all  lands.     Employers  anxious  to  hire 
cheap  labor  as  well   as  certain  sentimental  enthusiasts  for 
democracy  have  waxed  eloquent  in  favor  of  this  sort  of  cos- 
mopolitanism.    When  this  argument  is  applied  to  the  tariff 
question,  however,  the  altruism  of  the  employers  suddenly 
vanishes  in  thin  air;   and  it  is  often  urged  that  a  protective 
tariff  will  enable  Americans  to  build  up  industries  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  foreigner.     Mr.  Mitchell,  presenting  the  wage 
earners'    view,    believed  that   unrestricted   immigration   for 
example  from  China  would  benefit  that  nation  very  little  and 
would  greatly  injure  America.     ''  The  creation  of  an  outlet  for 
a  million  or  two  million  of  Chinese  immigrants  each  year  would 
merely  have  the  effect  of  increasing  the  birth-rate  in  that 
country,  with  the  result  that  within  a  century  a  majority  of 
the  working  people  of  this  country  would  be  Chinese,  while 
the  congestion  in  the  Celestial  Empire  would  be  as  great  and 
as  unrelieved  as  ever."    This  bald  statement  may  overesti- 
mate the  evil  to  this  country  and  underestimate  the  benefit 
to  China  of  unrestricted  Chinese  immigration;    but  to  the 
careful  student  no  appeal  of  the  sentimental  variety  can 
entirely  conceal  the  danger.     The  plea  for  restriction  of  immi- 
gration may  be  one  of  national  or  class  selfishness;   likewise 
the  altruistic  appeal  to  cosmopolitanism  may  be  a  cloak  for 
selfishness  on  the  part  of  another  class.     The  wage  earners 
fear  that  unrestricted  immigration  will  reduce  wages  and  lower 
their  standards  of  living.    The  business  interests  believe  that 
restricted  immigration  reduces  profits. 

The  Reconstruction  Program  (1919)  of  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor  favored  the  prohibition  of  immigration 
for  two  years;  and  the  1Q19  convention  of  the  Federation 
adopted  a  resolution  demanding  the  prohibition  of  immigration 
"for  a  fixed  number  of  vears."  The  traditional  policy  of  the 
socialists  has  been  one  of  non-interference  with  emigration 


I 


« 


'1 


4i8    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

and  immigration.    They  have  held   that  such  movements 
were  regulated  by  economic  conditions.    At  the  Socialist 
Congress  held  in  Chicago  in  May,  1910,  the  majority  of  a 
committee  appointed  two  years  before  to  study  the  immi- 
gration problem  reported  in  favor  of  the  exclusion  of  Chinese, 
Japanese,  Koreans,  and  Hindus  because  these  were  considered 
backward    races,    psychologically    and    economically.    This 
report  was  not  adopted,  but  it  was  favored  by  the  conservative 
and  constructive  members.    A  substitute  was  adopted  which 
reads  in  part  as  follows:  ^'The  SociaUst  party  of  the  United 
States  favors  all  legislative  measures  tending  to  prevent  the 
immigration  of  strike  breakers  and  contract  laborers,  and  the 
mass  importation  of  workers  from  foreign  countries,  brought 
about  by  the  employing  classes  for  the  purpose  of  weakemng 
the   organization   of  American   labor  and   of   lowering  the 
standard  of  life  of  the  American  workers.''    It  was  stated  on 
the  floor  of  the  congress  that  Asiatic  laborers  cannot  under- 
stand the  principles  of  unionism  or  of  socialism. 

Legislation.    The  first  general  immigration  law  was  not 
passed  until  1882.    Previous  to  the  Civil  War  several  acts 
were  passed  for  the  purpose  of  insuring  to  immigrants  decent 
treatment  and  safety  while  crossing  the  ocean.    Acts  were 
passed  in  1862,  1869,  1873.  and  1875,  deaUng  with  coohe 
unmigration  from  the  Orient.     With   one  exception,  until 
1882,  the  federal  government  left  the  control  of  immigration 
ahno'st  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  seaboard  states.    This 
exception  was  the  temporary  act  of  1864  passed  as  a  war 
measure   to   encourage   immigration.   -The   general   law   of 
1882  marks  the  first  step  toward  definite  federal  control  over 
immigration.    This  act  provided  for  a  head-tax  of  fifty  cents 
and   excluded    certain   undesirable    classes   of   immigrants. 
The  law,  however,  provided  for  cooperation  between  state 
and  federal  authorities.    Other  general  acts  were  passed  in 
1891,  1893,   1903,   1907,  and   1917.     The   office  of   Super- 


IMMIGRATION 


419 


intendent  of  Immigration,  now  denoted  Commissioner- 
General  of  Immigration,  was  created  under  the  act  of  189 1. 
Under  pressure  from  the  Knights  of  Labor  and  other  labor 
organizations,  Congress  passed  contract  labor  laws  in  1885 
and  1888.  These  acts  aimed  to  prevent  the  importation  of 
unskilled  labor  under  contract  to  work  for  American  firms. 
They  have  been  strengthened  by  later  legislation. 

The  aim  of  the  recent  immigration  acts  is  the  exclusion  of 
all  aliens  who  are  mentally,  morally,  or  physically  deficient. 
Under  the  present  law,  illiterates,  convicts,  persons  possessing 
physical  and  mental  deformities,  or  afflicted  with  contagious 
diseases,  beggars,  vagrants,  stowaways,  persons  suffering 
from  chronic  alcoholism,  paupers,  or  those  likely  to  become 
public  charges,  anarchists,  and  contract  laborers  are  the 
chief  excluded  classes.  Provision  is  made  for  careful  in- 
spection of  immigrants  and  for  detention  of  those  suspected 
of  belonging  to  one  of  the  excluded  classes.  A  head-tax  of 
$8.00  is  exacted  from  each  immigrant.  Steamship  com- 
panies are  held  liable  for  illegally  bringing  in  immigrants. 
Rejected  immigrants  must  be  returned  at  the  expense  of  the 
company  bringing  them  to  our  shores;  in  addition  a  fine  may 
be  assessed.  The  federal  authorities  may  deport  an  alien 
becoming  a  public  charge  within  five  years  from  the  date  of 
entry.  Encouragement  or  solicitation  of  immigrants  by 
steamship  companies  is  prohibited.  The  illiteracy  test  is 
a  restrictive  rather  than  a  selective  measure. 

The  federal  government  controls  the  admission  or  rejection 
of  the  immigrant;  but  after  he  is  here,  the  responsibility  for 
his  fair  treatment,  welfare,  and  betterment  rests  upon  the 
state  governments.  The  formation  of  good  citizens  and 
efficient  workers  out  of  the  immigrants  and  their  children  is  a 
task  which  the  state  government  must  shoulder.  The  real 
immigration  problem  is  a  state  rather  than  a  federal  problem. 

Oriental  Immigration.    The  problems  connected  with  On- 


,/ 


./ 


II 


f1 


'i 


It  ■ 


n 


#''#  € 


420    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

ental  immigration  present  phases  very  similar  to  the  Negro 
problem  of  the  South  and  of  many  Northern  cities.  Physical 
and  psychological  differences  between  the  American  and  the 
Asiatic  make  assimilation  of  the  Oriental  immigrants  practi- 
cally impossible,  and,  therefore,  multiply  the  political  and 
racial  complications  which  have  accompanied  European  im- 
migration. Any  considerable  influx  of  Chinese,  Japanese, 
Koreans,  or  Hindus  would  evolve  a  yellow  problem  not  unlike 
the  Negro  problem.  From  the  viewpoint  of  the  employer 
seeking  cheap,  unskilled,  and  unambitious  workers,  the  Chi- 
nese coolie  is  a  desirable  type  of  employee.  The  Chinese  are 
"patient,  docile,  industrious,  and  above  all  'honest'  in  the 
business  sense  that  they  keep  their  contracts."  A  Chinese 
contractor  delivers  the  desired  number  of  men,  they  board 
and  lodge  themselves,  and  quietly  disappear  when  the  work  is 
done.  The  purchase  of  Chinese  labor  is  like  the  purchase  of 
a  consignment  of  merchandise.  "This  elimination  of  the 
human  element  reduces  the  labor  problem  to  something  the 
employer  can  understand.  The  Chinese  labor-machine,  from 
his  standpoint,  is  perfect."  *  The  Japanese  is  more  aggressive 
and  more  ambitious.  He  does  not  recognize  that  a  contract 
implies  an  obligation  on  his  part  to  Hve  up  to  its  terms. 

These  qualities  of  the  Chinese  coolie  make  him  a  dangerous 
menace  to  the  organized  and  unorganized  American  wage 
earner,  struggling  to  maintain  a  comparatively  high  standard 
of  living.  And  if  the  wage  earner  is  the  comer-stone  of  Ameri- 
can democracy.  Oriental  immigration  on  a  large  scale,  whether 
Chinese,  Japanese,  Korean,  or  Hindu,  will  place  American 
institutions  in  grave  danger  of  disintegration.  Good  citizens 
are  not  evolved  out  of  docile,  unthinking,  and  machine-like 
masses  of  wage  earners  such  as  the  Chinese  coolies,  nor  out  of 
the  alert,  ambitious,  but  practically  unassimilable  Japanese. 

»Rowell,  "Chinese  and  Japanese  Immigrants,"  Annals  of  the  American 
Academy.    Vol.  34  :  224. 


IMMIGRATION 


421 


The  cry  of  danger  is  not  new;  and  we  ought  not  to  be  carried 
off  our  feet  by  a  wave  of  prejudice  against  hard-working 
Orientals.  Before  1855  there  was  much  opposition  to  the 
Germans  and  the  Irish;  but  these  nationalities  have  proven 
to  be  good  elements  in  our  population.  Spain  banished  the 
Moors,  and  France  drove  out  the  Huguenots.  In  each  in- 
stance the  aggressors  were  injured.  The  problem  of  Oriental 
immigration  should  be  studied  carefully.  Our  future  rela- 
tions with  the  East  are  involved.  The  policy  of  excluding 
all  Orientals  ought  not  to  be  adopted  in  the  heat  of  passion. 
The  danger  to  the  wage  earner  is,  however,  real;  his  status 
in  the  land  of  his  nativity  is  at  stake.  A  flow  of  immigration 
from  the  vast  sea  of  humanity  found  in  the  Orient  would 
quickly  submerge  the  white  wage  earner  of  the  Pacific 
coast. 

The  above  statement  is  not  unsupported  by  concrete 
evidence.  Hawaii  furnishes  a  social  laboratory  in  which  to 
study  the  effect  of  Oriental  immigration.  The  labor  force 
of  Hawaii  is  almost  completely  Orientalized.  At  first,  com- 
petition was  felt  only  in  the  unskilled  occupations,  but  grad- 
ually it  is  coming  to  be  severely  felt  in  the  skilled  trades  and 
in  mercantile  pursuits.  The  building  trades,  for  example, 
have  been  invaded  by  the  Oriental  workers.  In  1900  prac- 
tically one-half  of  all  the  males  engaged  in  domestic  and 
personal  service,  trade  and  transportation,  manufacture  and 
mechanical  pursuits  were  Chinese  and  Japanese.  Nine-tenths 
of  those  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  were  of  these  two 
nationalities.  1  The  agitation  in  California  in  the  seventies 
against  the  Chinese  immigrant,  and  the  recent  agitation 
against  the  Japanese  immigrant,  show  clearly  that  the  people 
of  California  will  not  submit  gracefully  to  "  Orientalization," 
such  as  has  occurred  in  Hawaii. 

The  Chinese  exclusion  act,  passed  in  1882,  suspended  th^ 
*  See  Bullelin  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor.    No.  66. 


IHi 


4 


j! 


1: 


I'' 


i 


422    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

immigration  of  all  Chinese  skilled  and  unskilled  laborers. 
This  legislation  was  to  extend  over  a  period  of  ten  years;  but 
the  act  has  been  strengthened  and  renewed  several  times. 
Finally,  in  1902,  the  exclusion  acts  were  given  an  indefinite 
extension  of  life.  Alien  Chinese  are  also  prohibited  from 
emigrating  from  our  insular  possessions  to  the  mainland. 
Chinese  born  in  this  country  are  considered  to  be  "native 
sons,"  and  are  entitled  to  admission.  The  exclusion  acts 
have  proven  very  difficult  of  enforcement. 

The  treaty  of  1894  with  Japan  provided  that  nothing  in  it 
should  be  construed  to  affect  laws  respecting  the  immigration 
of  laborers  "which  are  in  force  or  which  may  hereafter  be 
enacted  in  either  of  the  two  countries."  Although  the  United 
States  has  not  taken  advantage  of  this  clause  in  the  treaty, 
this  provision  was  distasteful  to  Japan  because  it  seemed  to 
sanction  any  possible  form  of  exclusion  act  which  the  former 
might  pass.  The  immigration  act  of  1907  authorized  the 
President  to  exclude  from  continental  United  States  any  im- 
migrants holding  passports  not  specifically  entitling  them  to 
enter  this  country.  In  March,  1907,  the  President  exercised 
this  power  in  regard  to  Japanese  coming  to  this  country 
from  Mexico,  Canada,  and  Hawaii;  and,  under  a  passport 
agreement  of  the  same  year,  the  Japanese  government  refuses 
to  issue  passports  for  laborers  desiring  to  come  to  this  coun- 
try. A  new  treaty  signed  in  19 11  omits  all  reference  to  the 
matter  of  Japanese  immigration;  but  the  Japanese  govern- 
ment has  officially  declared  that  it  will  maintain  the  limitation 
and  control  over  emigration  which  it  has  exercised  since  1907. 
The  treaty  provisions,  however,  place  the  matter  of  restric- 
tion of  Japanese  immigration  on  the  same  plane  as  that  from 
European  countries.  The  Japanese  government  is  also  limit- 
ing the  emigration  of  laborers  to  Hawaii.  During  the  fiscal 
year  ending  June  30,  1908,  9,544  Japanese  were  admitted 
into  continental  United  States,  and  4,796  departed.    In  the 


IMMIGRATION 


423 


following  fiscal  year  only  2,432  were  admitted  while  5,004 
departed.  In  Hawaii  the  number  of  Japanese  admitted 
declined  from  8,694  in  1908  to  1,493  ^  1909.  In  the  fiscal 
year  of  1918,  1,795  immigrant  alien  Chinese  were  admitted 
to  the  United  States;  and  a  larger  number  of  emigrant  aliens 
of  that  nationality  left  this  country.  In  the  same  year, 
10,213  immigrant  alien  Japanese  came  to  our  shores  while 
only  1,583  emigrant  alien  Japanese  departed.  The  law  of 
1917,  by  a  "geographical  delimitation"  practically  excludes 
all  Orientals  except  Japanese;  and  the  latter  are  in  a  large 
measure  kept  out  by  the  "gentleman's  agreement"  which 
is  still  in  force. 

Conclusion.    The  chief  benefits  of  immigration  are:    i.  It 
furnishes  a  supply  of  laborers.     2.  Immigration  hastens  the 
introduction  of  division  of  labor  and  the  resort  to  large-scale 
production.    3.  The  mingling  of  different  races  tends  to  dilute 
the  extreme  individuality  of  the  Anglo-Saxon.     The  most 
notable  evils  of  immigration  may  be  summarized  as  follows: 
I.  It  tends  to  reduce  wages  and  to  lead  to  the  introduction  of 
lower  standards  of  living.     2.  The  balancing  of  nationality 
against  nationality  generates  certain  political  evils.    3.  Im- 
migration tends  to  produce  and  to  aggravate  crises  and  cycles 
of  over-production.    4.  It  tends  to  produce  a  sort  of  caste 
system  in  the  United  States.    5.  It  leads  to  a  reduction  of  the 
native  birth-rate,  and  causes  race  suicide.     6.  Asiatic  immi- 
gration stimulates  race  prejudice,  and  interferes  with  una- 
nimity of  feeling  and  action  on  the  part  of  organized  labor. 
The  solidarity  of  the  working  class  is  endangered  by  the  intro- 
duction of  racial  hatreds.     7.  Inmiigration  sometimes  delays 
the   introduction   of   improved    machinery.    The   following 
points  are  worthy  of  consideration  in  connection  with  the 
immigration  problem,     (a)  Is  the  erection  of  dikes  to  hold 
back  the  flood  of  immigration  an  evidence  of  national  weak- 
ness?    (b)  Is  it  better  to  raise  the  standard  of  living  in  one 


II 


i 


H 


11 


424    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

part  of  the  world  and  let  its  influence  spread  by  contact  and 
imitation,  or  is  it  preferable  to  attempt  to  lift  all  at  once  and 
only  a  little  way?  (c)  Too  great  differences  in  the  character 
of  peoples  composing  a  mixed  population  tend  to  produce  a 
caste  system,  (d)  The  change  from  the  domestic  to  the 
factory  system  in  Japan  and  China  may  temporarily  increase 
the  demand  for  an  outlet  for  their  surplus  population,  (e) 
Are  the  socialists  playing  into  the  hands  of  the  employing 
class  when  they  demand  unrestricted  immigration?  (/)  Cer- 
tain representatives  of  the  yellow  race  have  asserted  that  the 
white  race  has  practiced  land  grabbing  on  a  colossal  scale. 
They  have  called  attention  to  a  *' white  peril,"  to  the  closed 
shop  policy  of  the  white  race. 


REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

Report  of  the  Immigration  Commission,  created  by  the  Act  of  1907, 

40  volumes. 

Brief  Statement  of  the  Conclusions  and  Recommetidations  of  the  Immigra- 
tion Commission  (1910). 

Adams  and  Sumner,  Labor  Problems.     Ch.  3. 

Commons,  Races  and  Immigrants. 

Hall,  Immigratiofi. 

Report  of  the  Industrial  Commission.     Vols.  15  and  19:  957-1030. 

Reports  of  the  Commissioner  of  Immigration. 

The  Annals  of  the  American  Academy,  September,  1909,  contains 
several  valuable  articles  upon  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  in  America. 

Balch,  Our  Slavic  Fellow  Citizens. 

Bliss,  New  Encyclopedia  of  Social  Reform.     Article  on  Immigration. 

Woods,  Americans  in  Process. 

Steiner,  On  the  Trail  of  the  Immigrant. 

Addams,  Newer  Ideals  of  Peace.     Ch.  3. 

Walker,  Discussions  in  Economics  and  Statistics.     Vol 

Franklin,  History  of  Naturalization  in  the  United  States 

Hadley,  Economics.     Ch.  13. 

Smith,  R.  M.,  Emigration  and  Immigration. 

Fite,  Industrial  and  Social  Conditions  during  the  Civil  War.     Ch.  7. 


2:  417-451- 
Chs.  11-14. 


Ill 


IMMIGRATION 


425 


Mitchell,  Organized  Labor.     Ch.  21. 

Ripley,  "Races  in  the  United  States,"  Atlantic  Monthly.     Vol.  102: 

745-759. 

Willcox,    "Distribution    of    Immigration,"    Quarterly    Journal    of 

Economics.     August,  1906. 

Huebner,  "The  Americanization  of  the  Immigrant,"  Annals  of  the 
American  Academy.     May,  1906. 

Ward,  "The  Agricultural  Distribution  of  Immigrants,"  Popular 
Science  Monthly.    Vol.  66:  166  et  seq. 

Jenks  and  Lauck,  The  Immigration  Problem. 

Hourwich,  Immigration  and  Labor. 

Fairchild,  Immigration. 

Abbott,  The  Immigrant  and  the  Community. 

Roberts,  The  New  Immigration. 

Fetter,  "Population  or  Prosperity,"  American  Economic  Review, 
Supplement,  March,  1913. 

Bogardus,  Americanization.  • 

Stoddard,  The  Rising  Tide  of  Color. 


Ml 


I) 


Vi 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  SWEATED  INDUSTRIES 

The  sweated  industries  are  survivals  of  the  old  form  of 
domestic  industry  which  preceded  the  factory  system.  There 
is  no  hard  and  fast  line  of  demarcation  between  the  sweated 
industries  and  those  called  factory  industries  on  one  hand 
or  those  termed  arts  and  crafts  shops  on  the  other.  The 
distinguishing  characteristics  usually  found  in  a  sweated 
influstry  are  low  wages,  a  long  working  day,  insanitary  work- 
shops, and  speeded-up  workers;  of  these  four  characteristics 
the  emphasis  should  be  placed  upon  the  first.  The  adjectives 
—  low,  long,  insanitary,  and  speeded-up  —  are  more  or  less 
indefinite,  unstandardized,  and  changing.  The  conditions 
favorable  to  the  development  of  sweated  industries  are  found 
in  large  cities  and  their  suburbs  where  it  is  easy  to  obtain 
immigrant,  women,  and  children  laborers,  in  industries  in 
which  inexpensive  or  no  machinery  is  necessary,  in  businesses 
where  the  contract  system  is  used,  and  in  industries  in  which 
the  demand  for  products  is  irregular,  seasonal,  or  highly  indi- 
vidualized. Other  characteristics  are  minute  subdivision  of 
labor,  the  lack  of  organization  among  the  workers,  and  the 
difficulty  of  adequate  inspection.  A  sweated  industry  is 
essentially  a  "parasitic  industry."  It  is  an  industry  in  which 
the  wages  paid  and  the  conditions  of  work  are  such  that  wage 
earners  and  their  families  cannot  be  supported  upon  even  a 
decent  minimum  scale  of  living.  If  all  industries  in  the 
nation  were  sweated,  *'the  entire  nation  would,  generation 
by  generation,  steadily  degrade  in  character  and  industrial 

426 


^/ 


/ 


/ 


THE   SWEATED   INDUSTRIES 


427 


efficiency."  The  sweating  system  degrades  the  worker  to 
the  level  of  the  brute  or  to  that  of  the  machine.  The  nation 
indirectly  pays  a  bounty  so  that  the  parasitic  industries  may 
be  maintained. 

Sweated  work  is  performed  in  two  classes  of  workshops. 
The  small  shop  managed  by  the  contractor  or  sub-contractor 
in  a  tenement  or  dwelling  house  is  the  first  type.  The  typical 
sweater's  shop  is  small,  badly  lighted  and  ventilated,  poorly 
equipped,  and  insanitary.  Sweating  is  also  found  in  the  home. 
Individuals  working  with  the  assistance  of  the  other  members 
of  the  family  in  the  living  and  sleeping  rooms  of  the  family 
make  up  the  second  type  of  sweated  industries.  The  first 
form  of  sweating  is  being  gradually  pushed  to  the  wall  because 
of  the  encroachments  of  the  factory,  the  breaking  down  of 
the  contract  system,  the  improvement  of  legislation  in  regard 
to  sweatshops,  and  the  work  of  labor  organizations.  Although 
public  sentiment  is  opposed  to  its  continuation,  the  second 
type  of  sweating  is  more  persistent;  and  it  is  unfortunately 
stimulated  by  the  development  of  some  kinds  of  factory 
industry.  Certain  machine-made  garments  and  other  arti- 
cles—  factory  products  —  are  often  sent  out  of  the  factory 
to  the  homes  to  be  finished.  Employers  are  thus  able  to 
reduce  certain  expenses  in  their  plant,  such  as  shop  supervision, 
lighting,  heating,  rentals,  and  equipment.  Home  finishing 
is  a  cheap  mode  of  production  in  the  clothing  industry;  and 
the  seasonal  nature  of  the  industry  increases  its  advantage 
over  factor}^  finishing.  "There  are  but  a  few  manufacturers 
who  make  garments  on  a  large  scale  that  do  not  shift  part  of 
the  burden  of  the  cost  of  these  items  to  the  shoulders  of  their 
workers.  A  small  number  of  them  provide  sufficient  space 
in  the  shop  for  the  finishers,  to  meet  normal  conditions  at 
least,  and  only  resort  to  home  finishing  during  a  rush 
period.  The  contractor,  or  the  'sweater,'  as  he  is  called, 
who  makes  up  the  bulk  of  the  product  in  New  York,  seldom 


; 


M 


^=1 


428    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

or  never  makes  such  provision."^  In  this  form  of  sweating 
the  work  of  women  and  children  who  otherwise  would  not 
be  employed  in  gainful  industry  is  utilized.  Much  of  the 
work  is  intermittent  and  is  performed  along  with  the 
ordinary-  household  work.  The  wages  paid  are  small;  but  in 
many  cases  the  income  derived  by  finishing  garments  at 
home  merely  supplements  the  regular  family  income.  "But 
this  low  rate  yields  only  starvation  wages  to  those  who 
have  to  depend  upon  it  alone  for  their  livelihood;"  and  the 
competition  of  those  who  are  working  for  "pin-money"  tends 
to  keep  the  wages  at  "starvation"  rates.  The  factory  has 
snatched  many  industries  out  of  the  home,  fundamentally 
changing  the  industrial  character  of  the  latter;  it  now  returns 
to  certain  homes  a  specialized  remnant  of  what  was  formerly  a 
household  occupation.  But  the  conditions  under  which  the 
special  work  is  done  are  often  such  as  to  breed  disease 
and  degeneration  among  the  workers. 

Many  employers  are  eager  to  promote  this  kind  of  home 
work  in  connection  with  the  factory  system.  A  speaker  at 
the  annual  meeting  of  the  Citizens'  Industrial  Association 
held  in  Battle  Creek  in  1907,  stated  that  in  his  home 
town  in  southern  Indiana  many  women  did  chair  bottom- 
ing at  home,  receiving  the  assistance  of  their  children. 
This  delegate  spoke  in  glowing  terms  of  this  mild  form 
of  sweating.  He  said  that  work  in  the  home  was  prefer- 
able to  sending  children  to  the  factory  as  they  were  under 
the  care  of  the  mother  while  at  work.  This  plea  resembles 
an  old  argument  made  three-quarters  of  a  century  ago 
against  the  public  school,  —  namely,  that  it  took  the  child 
out  of  the  home  and  away  from  the  care  of  the  mother. 
The  speaker  at  Battle  Creek  took  for  granted  apparently 
the  desirability  of  gainful  industry  on  the  part  of  the 
wives  and  young  children  of  workingmen.     The  root  argu- 

*  Report  on  Cofiditiom  of  Woman  and  Child  Wage-earners  in  the  United 
States.    Vol.  2  :  ^02. 


THE  SWEATED  INDUSTRIES 


429 


ment  undoubtedly  was  that  this  form  of  sweating  involved 
the  utilization  of  cheap  labor. 

Among  the  sweated  industries  carried  on  largely  in  homes 
and  in  which  young  children  are  frequently  utilized  are  the 
manufacture  of  artificial  flowers,  sewing  tapes  in  kid  gloves, 
millinery  work,  making  garters,  shelling  nuts,  putting  cords 
in  pencils  for  souvenir  cards,  stringing  beads,  sewing  men's 
neckties,  covering  buttons  with  braid,  finishing  leather  post- 
cards, putting  buttons  on  a  card,  finishing  corset  covers,  and 
manufacturing  false  hair  switches.  Cigars  and  cigarettes  are 
frequently  manufactured  imder  the  conditions  of  a  sweated 
industry;  but  the  clothing  industry  is  the  most  important  of 
all  sweated  industries. 

V  Sweating  in  the  Clothing  Industry.  Four  stages  in  the 
development  of  the  clothing  industry  have  been  traced.  The 
journeyman  was  a  skilled  mechanic  who  made  the  entire 
garment  himself.  The  home  shop  with  some  division  of  labor 
followed.  The  third  stage  witnessed  the  introduction  of  the 
unique  "task  system"  among  the  Jewish  immigrants  in  New 
York  City.  The  task  system  originated  and  continues  in 
New  York;  it  does  not  flourish  elsewhere.  The  task  system 
arose  during  the  influx  of  Jewish  immigrants  between  1876 
and  1882.  In  the  task  system  a  team  of  three,  consisting  of 
a  machine  operator,  a  baster,  and  a  finisher,  work  together. 
For  every  three  teams,  two  pressers  and  several  girls  to  sew 
on  pockets  and  buttons  and  to  do  a  few  other  simple  opera- 
tions are  employed.  There  is  necessity  for  a  nice  adjustment 
within  a  team  so  that  each  member  may  complete  his  work 
so  as  to  pass  it  on  to  the  next  one  as  soon  as  the  latter  is 
ready  to  receive  it.  A  certain  amount  of  work,  called  a 
"task,"  is  supposed  to  be  done  in  a  day;  but  fierce  competi- 
tion has  gradually  increased  the  amount  of  the  task  until 
frequently,  with  the  most  strenuous  endeavors,  the  task  cannot 
be  completed  without  working  from  twelve  to  fourteen  hours 


^ 


mk 


430    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

per  day.  The  task  system  is  a  peculiarly  undesirable  form 
of  the  piece  work  system  of  wage  payment.  The  Jewish 
workers,  with  their  intense  desire  to  accumulate  and  to  be 
emancipated  from  hard  work  as  wage  earners,  are  peculiarly 
adapted  to  the  task  system.  Again,  the  Jews  are  restless 
under  the  rigid  routine  and  constant  supervision  of  the 
factory;  but  the  comparative  freedom  in  the  small  shop 
under  the  task  system  is  attractive  to  them.* 

In  the  fourth  stage  in  the  evolution  of  the  clothing  industry 
1/  is  found  the  factory  system.  The  factory  is  gaining  upon  the 
sweat-shop  of  the  contractor.  In  time  the  factory  may  de- 
stroy the  first  form  of  sweating  in  the  clothing  industry.  The 
contractor  or  sweater  operating  a  small  shop  has  flourished 
because  (a)  he  has  been  able  to  utilize  immigrant  labor,  and 
because  (6)  of  the  seasonal  demand,  the  constantly  changing 
styles,  and  the  demand  for  tailor-made  garments. 

"  The  man  best  fitted  to  be  a  sweater  is  the  man  who  is  well 
acquainted  with  his  neighbors,  who  is  able  to  speak  the  lan- 
guage of  several  classes  of  immigrants,  who  can  easily  persuade 
his  neighbors  or  their  wives  and  children  to  work  for  him, 
and  in  this  way  can  obtain  the  cheapest  help.''  ^  xhe  sweater 
takes  advantage  of  the  helplessness,  the  isolation,  and  the 
ignorance  of  the  newly  arrived  immigrant  who  cannot  speak 
English.  The  long  working  day  and  the  conditions  under 
which  the  sweat-shop  worker  is  employed  practically  eliminate 
all  opportunity  for  learning  the  English  language  and  gaining 
a  knowledge  of  American  customs  and  standards  of  living. 
The  sweater  has  been  an  important  factor  in  causing  and  con- 
tinuing segregation  of  nationalities  within  our  large  cities. 

In  recent  years  the  demand  for  men's  and  women's  ready- 
made  clothing  is  increasing.  Large  department  stores  that 
formerly  sold  only  a  cheap  grade  of  ready-made  clothing  are 

*  Report  of  Industrial  Commission.    Vol.  15  :  345-348. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  320. 


THE  SWEATED   INDUSTRIES 


431 


gradually  stocking  up  with  more  expensive  clothing,  and  are 
catering  to  a  class  of  customers  who  formerly  patronized  only 
merchant  tailors.  This  movement  toward  standardization 
in  the  clothing  industry  will  aid  the  factories  in  overcoming 
the  competition  of  the  small  shop.  Overalls,  army  clothing, 
and  cheaper  garments  which  are  not  affected  by  changes  in 
the  fashion  are  made  in  factories  which  successfully  compete 
with  the  small  establishment.  There  is  reason  to  believe 
that  the  clothing  industry  is  following  along  the  path  pursued 
by  the  boot  and  shoe  industry.  The  custom-made  boot  or 
shoe  has  been  replaced  by  the  factory-made  and  standardized 
product;  and  the  tailor-made  suit  is  slowly  being  replaced  by 
the  factory-made  suit.  The  substitution  of  the  factory  for 
the  small  shop  or  sweat-shop  will  probably  take  place  very 
slowly  as  long  as  the  immigration  of  large  numbers  of  un- 
skilled workers  continues.  As  has  been  indicated,  the  factory 
may  utilize  the  home  workers  to  finish  certain  articles,  thus 
prolonging  the  existence  of  the  second  and  more  dangerous 
form  of  the  sweated  industry. 

Wages  in  the  Sweated  Industries.  The  wages  paid  in  the 
sweated  industries  are  pitiably  low,  particularly  when  the 
work  is  done  in  the  home.  The  hours  of  work  are  indefinite 
and  irregular;  and  the  quantity  of  work  furnished  from  day 
to  day  often  extremely  variable.  Many  investigators  have 
collected  statistics.*  In  New  York,  in  1907,  white  roses, 
seven  pieces  per  flower,  were  made  in  homes  at  six  cents  per 
gross;  and  cords  were  attached  to  souvenir  pencils  at  forty 
cents  per  thousand.    Stems  were  pasted  on  white  silk  leaves 

1  Van  Kleeck,  "Child  Labor  in  New  York  City  Tenements,"  Charities 
and  the  Commons,  January  i8,  1908;  Butler,  "Sweated  work  in  Hudson 
County,  New  Jersey,"  Ibid.,  December  21,  1907;  MacLean,  "The  Sweat- 
shop in  Summer,"  American  Journal  of  Sociology,  November,  1903;  Report 
of  the  Industrial  Commission.  Vol.  15;  Preliminary  Report  of  New  York 
State  Factory  Investigating  Commission  (1914);  Minimum  Wage  Commission 
(Massachusetts,  1914)  Bulletin  No.  20. 


i 


432    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

at  two  cents  per  gross;  and  Windsor  ties  were  turned  and 
hemstitched  at  ten  cents  per  dozen.  In  19 14,  workers  in 
the  paper  box  industry  in  New  York  City  were  receiving 
about  $6.00  per  week  for  covering  boxes  with  slips  of  paper. 
In  Massachusetts,  in  1914,  nearly  one-half  of  the  workers  in 
the  wholesale  and  retail  millinery  industry  were  receiving 
less  than  $100.00  per  year.  ^ 

The  Sweat-Shop  and  the  Consumer.  The  workers  in  the 
sweat-shop  are  not  the  only  persons  whose  health  and  effi- 
ciency are  endangered  by  the  insanitary  conditions  which 
usually  obtain.  Clothing,  especially  if  made  of  wool,  absorbs 
filth  and  disease  germs  readily  during  the  process  of  manufac- 
ture; and  it  is  very  difficult  to  dislodge  disease  germs  which 
have  found  lodgment  in  a  garment.  Garments  made  in 
homes  infected  with  the  germs  of  various  diseases,  such  as 
tuberculosis,  smallpox,  scarlet  fever,  or  measles,  may  carry 
the  infection  into  the  homes  of  purchasers,  and  thus  endanger 
many  lives.  "One  cannot  quiet  his  conscience  by  announc- 
ing that  he  goes  to  high  price  clothiers  for  his  garments,  and 
so  cannot  come  in  contact  with  sweated  goods;  hence  he  is 
free  from  responsibility  in  the  matter.  Such  soothing  syrup 
may  prove  fatal  in  the  end.  In  the  first  place,  the  mere  fact 
of  buying  expensive  clothing  does  not  exempt  one  from  the 
danger  of  tenement-house  goods.  The  tailor  who  charges 
fancy  prices  is  quite  liable  to  let  his  work  out  by  contract,  and 
the  original  contractor,  though  not  a  sweater  himself,  may 
sublet  the  work  to  one  who  is;  and  so  one's  hundred-dollar 
coat  may  repose  on  the  bed  of  a  scarlet-fever  patient  before 
it  is  delivered  ready  for  use.  Costliness  alone  is  no  guarantee 
that  a  garment  is  made  under  decent  conditions."  ^  Indeed, 
many  cheap  garments  such  as  overalls  are  usually  made  in 
factories  where  the  danger  of  infection  is  slight.  The  con- 
sumer is  vitally  interested  in  the  abolition  of  the  sweat-shop. 

*  MacLean,  American  Journal  of  Sociology.    Vol.  9:  301. 


\i 


THE  SWEATED  INDUSTRIES 


433 


Legislation.  Twelve  states  —  Connecticut,  Illinois,  In- 
diana, Maryland,  Massachusetts,  Michigan,  Missouri,  New 
Jersey,  New  York,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  and  Wisconsin  — 
have  passed  laws  regulating  manufacture  in  tenements  and 
dwelling  houses.  These  acts  regulating  the  conditions  of 
manufacture  are  held  to  constitute  a  reasonable  and  desirable 
extension  of  the  police  power  of  the  state.  The  Maryland 
Court  of  Appeals  in  sustaining  the  sweat-shop  act  of  1902 
which  had  been  declared  null  and  void  in  a  lower  court  used 
the  following  language:  "The  whole  scheme  of  the  act  ap- 
pears to  us  to  be  in  furtherance  of  the  protection  and  preser- 
vation of  the  public  health,  and,  whatever  criticism  may  be 
made  upon  the  method  of  its  enforcement,  no  convincing 
reason  has  been  suggested  to  show  that  its  terms  have  not  a 
real  and  substantial  relation  to  the  subject  of  the  police  power 
of  the  state."  1  In  1885  the  New  York  Court  of  Appeals 
declared  a  law  forbidding  the  manufacture  of  cigars  in  tene- 
ments unconstitutional.  The  judges  were  unable  to  under- 
stand how  the  cigar  makers'  morals  or  health  would  be 
improved  by  forcing  persons  to  work  away  from  their  homes 
with  their  "hallowed  associations  and  beneficent  influ- 
ences." The  old  question  of  liberty  is  involved.  Can  a 
man  be  legally  restrained  in  the  interests  of  the  public 
good  from  working  wherever  and  under  whatever  condi- 
tions he  may  see  fit  or  be  forced  to  accept?  ^ 

The  sweat-shop  law  of  Michigan  is  a  reasonably  good 
statute.  It  provides  that,  unless  a  written  permit  is  obtained 
from  the  factory  inspector,  no  room  or  apartment  of  any 
tenement  or  dwelling  house  shall  be  used  for  the  purpose  of 
manufacturing  any  one  of  a  long  list  of  enumerated  articles. 
This  list  included  practically  all  articles  of  wearing  apparel, 
purses,  artificial  flowers,  cigars,  and  cigarettes.    The  New 

*  Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor.     No.  58  :  looi. 

*  This  point  was  discussed  in  a  preceding  chapter. 


•f'l 


p 


I' I 


434    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

York  law  also  specifies  the  manufacture,  preparing,  or  packing 
of  macaroni,  spaghetti,  ice-cream,  ices,  candy,  confectionery 
nuts,  and  preserves.    The  permit  shall  not  be  granted  until 
the  premises  have  been  inspected  by  the  factory  inspector  or 
his  deputy,  and  found  to  be  in  proper  condition  as  to  ventila- 
tion, heating,  and  Ughting.    This  permit  must  be  posted  and 
may  be  revoked  by  the  factory  inspector  "at  any  time  the 
health  of  the  community  or  of  those  so  employed  may  require 
it  "    None  of  the  kinds  of  work  enumerated  shall  be  performed 
in  sleeping  rooms  or  in  rooms  not  having  a  separate  outside 
entrance,  except  in  the  case  of  work  performed  wholly  by 
members  of  the  family.    No  material  shall  be  given  out  by 
any  person  or  firm  to  contractors  or  sub-contractors  until  the 
permit  has  been  produced  by  the  latter;  and  a  register  shall 
be  kept  of  the  names  and  addresses  of  aU  persons  to  whom 
material  has  been  suppUed.     A  seamstress  may  be  employed 
to  manufacture  articles  for  the  family  use  without  applying 
for   a   permit.    A   penalty  is  prescribed  for  the  violation 

of  the  act.  , 

Practically  all  the  sweat-shop  laws  enumerate  a  hst,  as  does 
Michigan,  of  regulated  tenement  industries;  and  industnes 
not  included  in  the  Hst  are  not  subject  to  regulation.  Many 
of  the  sweated  industries  mentioned  in  a  preceding  paragraph, 
such  as  covering  buttons  and  shelling  nuts,  are  therefore 
not  subject  to  regulation  by  the  factory  inspector. 

Connecticut,  Illinois,  Missouri,  and  Ohio  do  not  require 
the  issuance  of  permits  or  licenses,  but  Connecticut  and  lib- 
nois  provide  that  the  factory  inspector  shall  be  notified  when- 
ever a  shop  is  opened  in  a  tenement  or  a  dweUing  house.  1  he 
Ucense  provision  is  a  very  desirable  and  effective  requirement. 
It  "is  far  more  effective  than  any  penalty  imposed  m  court, 
since  it  avoids  the  delay  of  court  proceedings  and  takes  fronj 
the  violator  the  means  of  earning  a  Uving.''  Licensing  and 
.     registering  also  Ughten  the  work  of  the  factory  inspectors;  but 


THE   SWEATED   INDUSTRIES 


435 


the  work  is  carried  on  in  so  many  small  and  obscure  shops  and 
rooms  scattered  over  a  wide  area  that  inspection  is  always 
difficult.  On  the  other  hand,  the  sweaters  have  as  a  rule 
little  political  influence.  Restrictive  legislation  and  efficient 
inspection  will  do  much  to  reduce  the  glaring  evils  of  the 
sweat-shop;  but  such  legislation  is  not  curative.  Other 
remedial  measures  are  necessary  before  the  dangerous  forms 
of  the  sweat-shop  are  eradicated. 

Remedies.    The  remedies  which  may  be  proposed  to  remove 
the  evils  in  connection  with  the  sweat-shop  are  a  multitude. 
No  one  of  the  many  proposed  remedies  is  adequate  to  cope 
with  the  difficulty;  but  a  combination  of  several  may  in  time 
prove   effective.    The    important    proposals   may  be   sum- 
marized  under   four   classes:    Legislation,    trade   unionism, 
education,  and  systematization  of  industry,     i.  Legislation. 
There  are  two  kinds  of  legislation  directed  against  the  sweat-- 
shop: restrictive  laws  and  minimum  wage  laws.    The  former  " 
were  discussed  in  the  preceding  paragraph.     One  additional 
form  of  restrictive  legislation  which  might  act  as  a  palliative  « 
would  be  the  restriction  of  immigration. 

Since  the  sweat-shop  is  essentially  parasitic,  the  establish- 
ment by  law  of  a  minimum  wage  payment  which  would  yield 
sufficient  income  to  the  wage  earner  to  maintain  physical 
vigor  would  strike  at  the  root  of  the  evil.  If  the  sweat-shops 
were  not  allowed  to  pay  abnormally  low  wages,  competition 
would  soon  force  them  out  of  existence.  The  minimum  could 
be  determined  by  a  study  of  the  budgets  of  wage  earners.  It 
should  be  a  "living  wage."  The  establishment  of  a  minimum 
wage  might  force  certain  establishments  out  of  business;  but 
the  nation  can  well  afford  to  lose  any  industry  which  cannot 
pay  sufficient  wages  to  maintain  its  wage  earners  in  health  and 
efficiency.  However,  few  would  be  forced  out  of  existence;  the 
methods  of  manufacture  would  merely  be  adjusted  to  meet 
the  added  cost  of  labor  power.    Artificial  flowers  are  produced 


I    'I 


VA 
h! 


436    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

in  large  quantities  in  sweat-shops;  the  sweat-shop  is  profit- 
able because  insufficient  wages  are  paid  to  adequately  support 
the  workers.  If  a  minimum  wage  were  introduced,  the  in- 
dustry would  not  be  destroyed,  but  the  work  would  be  per- 
formed in  factories,  and  more  machinery  would  probably  be 
utilized.  Establish  a  minimum  wage  in  the  clothing  industry, 
whether  by  law  or  through  trade  union  action,  and  the  trend 
toward  the  factory  would  be  accelerated.  Minimum  wage 
laws  aid  the  better  class  of  employers  by  preventing  unscru- 
pulous competitors  from  employing  labor  under  parasitic 
conditions.  Like  laws  preventing  adulteration,  they  prevent 
"unfair"  competition.  The  establishment  of  a  minimum 
wage  would  leave  some  overdriven  and  underpaid  workers 
without  a  job.  Others  would  have  better  jobs.  The  imem- 
ployed  would  become  charges  upon  society,  temporarily  at 
least.  The  sweat-shop  is,  on  the  other  hand,  an  expense  to 
the  nation;  it  increases  physical  weakness,  degeneracy,  crime, 
and  prostitution. 

A  minimum  wage  law  is  not  essentially  a  piece  of  socialistic 
or  even  radical  legislation;  it  is  in  reality  a  conservative 
measure.  Minimum  wage  legislation  recognizes  and  aims  to 
continue  the  present  industrial  regime.  Where  monopoly 
has  replaced  competition,  minimum  wage  laws  merely  curb 
the  power  of  the  monopolist  to  reduce  wages.  In  industries 
in  which  competition  still  obtains,  such  legislation  modifies 
the  plane  of  competition  thus  directly  affecting  both  employers 
and  employees.  The  unscrupulous  or  inefficient  "twentieth 
man"  among  the  business  men  will  lose  part  of  his  power  to 
force  low  wages  and  poor  working  conditions  upon  the  entire 
industry  regardless  of  the  attitude  and  desires  of  other  em- 
ployers. And  the  low-standard-of-living  wage  earner  will 
lose  a  portion  of  his  advantage  in  competition  with  those 
demanding  a  somewhat  higher  standard.  New  rules  are 
introduced  by  minimum  wage  legislation  according  to  which 


THE   SWEATED   INDUSTRIES 


437 


the  competitive  game  must  be  played.  Certain  practices 
now  enter  the  category  in  which  are  found  "hitting  below 
the  belt"  and  "spiking  the  runner."  The  conditions  under 
which  competition  takes  place  are  changed,  and  the  lower 
wage  limit  is  artificially  prevented  from  falling  below  a  wage 
which  will  prevent  the  deterioration  of  the  stamina  and 
efficiency  of  the  workers  as  a  class.  Like  laws  designed  to 
prevent  adulteration  of  food  products,  a  minimum  wage  law 
will  prevent  "unfair"  competition.  Such  legislation  will  aid 
the  more  progressive  and  humane  type  of  employers  by  pro- 
hibiting the  employment,  by  unscrupulous  employers,  of 
labor  under  parasitic  conditions. 

The  representatives  at  the  meeting  of  the  International 
Association  for  Labor  Legislation  held  at  Lucerne  in  Septem- 
ber, 1908,  recognizing  low  wages  as  the  fundamental  cause  of 
the  sweat-shop  evils,  urged  that  steps  be  taken  to  establish  a 
minimum  wage  for  weak  and  unprotected  classes  of  labor. 
In  1909  the  British  Parliament  passed  an  anti-sweating  act 
which  became  a  law  in  September  of  that  year.  The  law  pro- 
vides for  boards  with  power  to  fix  a  minimum  wage  in  cer- 
tain sweated  industries.  Penalties  are  provided  for  employers 
disregarding  the  findings  of  the  board.  Employers  and  em- 
ployees are  represented  upon  the  boards.  Separate  boards 
may  be  established  for  each  trade  or  branch  of  a  trade  or 
industry.  At  first,  boards  are  only  to  be  established  in  four 
industries:  wholesale  tailoring,  cardboard  box  making,  lace 
finishing,  and  chain  making.  A  board  is  expected  to  study  the 
conditions  in  the  industry  for  which  it  is  appointed,  and  to  fix 
minimum  wages  for  both  day  and  piece  work.  The  Board  of 
Trade  may  extend,  provided  Parliament  consents,  the  provi- 
sions of  the  law  to  other  industries.  Although  Parliament 
has  sanctioned  the  principle  of  a  minimum  wage,  it  definitely 
maintains  control  over  the  extension  of  its  application.^     In 

_    *  The  act  is  reprinted  in  The  Quarterly  Journal  0/  Economics.    May,  1910. 


ft 


V. 


m 
h 


U  t 


438    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

191 2,  the  coal  mining  industry  was  placed  under  the  pro- 
visions of  the  act.  In  19 13,  the  law  was  applied  to  four 
additional  trades,  and  more  recently  it  was  extended  to  cover 
agricultural  workers.  In  191 5,  France  enacted  a  minimum 
wage  law  applying  to  women  in  certain  clothing  industries. 
The  most  famous  and  important  attempt  at  establishing 
minimum  wages  has  been  made  in  Victoria.  The  law  was 
first  passed  in  1896  as  a  temporary  measure,  and  was  amended 
and  extended  in  1900,  1903,  and  1905.  In  1900  South  Aus- 
tralia provided  for  the  estabUshment  of  minimum  wage  boards 
similar  to  those  of  Victoria.  The  law  was  not  operative 
until  1905.  An  act  passed  in  191 2  subordinated  the  wage 
boards  to  an  arbitration  board.  In  1908  New  South  Wales 
passed  a  minimum  wage  act.  One  clause  of  the  law  reads: 
*'No  workman  or  shop  assistant  shall  be  employed  unless  in 
receipt  of  a  weekly  wage  of  at  least  four  shillings,  irrespective 
of  any  amount  earned  as  overtime."  Overtime  means  work- 
ing over  forty-eight  hours  in  any  week  or  after  six  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon.  A  minimum  is  thus  established  for  the  in- 
dustries of  the  colony.  As  was  indicated  in  a  preceding 
chapter,  the  law  of  1908  supersedes  that  of  1901  providing 
for  courts  of  arbitration.  It  provides  for  wage  boards  in  the 
important  industries,  with  a  restricted  right  of  appeal  to 
an  industrial  court.  Again,  in  1912,  a  compulsory  arbitration 
system  was  superimposed  upon  the  wage  boards.  In  19 10, 
Tasmania  passed  a  wage  board  act  similar  to  that  of  Victoria. 
A  strike  against  the  findings  of  a  wage  board  is  punishable 
by  heavy  fines  in  Tasmania  and  South  Australia.  In  Vic- 
toria boards  may  be  appointed  in  the  clothing,  furniture, 
baking,  butchering,  and  "small-goods"  trades.  Boards  may 
also  be  appointed  in  any  factory  industry,  provided  the 
Parliament  of  the  colony  deems  it  expedient.  A  separate 
board  is  formed  for  each  industry;  the  members  are  appointed 
by  the  governor  unless  protest  is  made  by  the  employer  or 


THE  SWEATED  INDUSTRIES 


439 


employees  concerned.  In  such  an  event  the  choice  is  made 
by  the  parties  to  the  dispute.  In  Victoria  minimum  wage 
boards  were  in  operation  (191 5)  in  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  trades  and  their  findings  affected  a  large  percentage  of 
the  workers  of  the  colony.^ 

A  board  may  fix  minimum  day  or  piece  wages;  but  accord- 
ing to  the  1903  law  it  is  required  to  ascertain  the  average 
"rates  of  payment  paid  by  reputable  employers  of  average 
capacity."  The  lowest  wage  fixed  by  the  board  may  not 
exceed  the  average  wage  thus  ascertained.  Evidence  as  to 
the  cost  of  living  and  as  to  profits  in  the  industry  are  not 
admitted.  In  case  the  average  wage  paid  in  the  industry 
is  not  deemed  satisfactory  as  a  minimum,  the  whole  matter 
may  be  referred  to  the  court  of  industrial  appeals.  This 
court  was  established  under  the  act  of  1903 ;  it  may  proceed  to 
fix  wages  without  being  bound  by  the  limitations  of  the  mini- 
mirni  wage  board.  A  board  may  fix  the  length  of  work- 
ing day  and  determine  the  rate  to  be  paid  for  overtime;  and 
it  is  allowed  to  fix  special  wage  rates  for  aged,  infirm,  or 
slow  workers.  The  wage  board  system  of  Victoria  was 
originally  intended  to  apply  only  to  the  sweated  industries; 
but  it  has  been  gradually  extended  until  it  has  become  a 
general  method  of  wage  regulation.  According  to  the  law 
of  1903,  a  wage  board  was  required  to  ascertain  the  average 
*' rates  of  payment  paid  by  reputable  employers  of  average 
capacity."  This  requirement  has  been  repealed;  and  the 
principle  of  a  "living  wage,"  that  is,  a  wage  sufficient  for 
normal  needs,  is  quite  generally  followed.  As  the  system 
has  been  extended  to  skilled  trades,  the  wage  determinations 
are  often  placed  above  a  living  wage.^  A  board  may  not 
only  determine  the  minimum  wage  paid,  but  it  may  also 
fix  the  maximum  number  of  working  hours  and  the  rate  to 

*  Commons  and  Andrews,  Principles  of  Labor  Legislation,  p.  173. 
2  Commons  and  Andrews,  Principles  of  Labor  Legislation,  p.  179. 


i  If 


I.  i 


V'' 
i'f 


Hi 


m 


440    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

be  paid   for   overtime.    A   board   may   likewise   authorize 
special  wage  rates  for  aged,  infirm  or  slow  workers. 

*'The  two  chief  objections  made  to  the  law  have  been  (i) 
that  it  was  unjust  to  the  old  and  the  slow  worker,  and  that 
when  conditions  of  competition  make  it  worth  while  it  creates 
a  body  of  unemployed  whose  interest  it  is  to  evade  the  law, 
and  (2)  that  it  has  a  detrimental  effect  upon  industries.  Those 
who  support  the  law  maintain  (a)  that  it  has  practically  done 
away  with  sweating  and  has  been  an  influence  in  favor  of 
higher  wages,  (b)  that  it  has  not  affected  industries  un- 
favorably, and  (c)  that  it  has  been  influential  in  preventing 
industrial  conflicts  between  workers  and  their  employers."  ^ 

The  minimum  wage  boards  of  Victoria  and  Great  Britain 
were  legalized  in  response  to  sentiment  opposed  to  the  sweat- 
shop. Theoretically,  the  sanction  for  minimum  wage  boards 
and  the  sanction  for  boards  of  arbitration  are  quite  different. 
The  latter  are  means  of  obtaining  and  preserving  industrial 
peace.  The  former  rest  upon  the  principle  that  social  prog- 
ress is  retarded  when  workers  are  paid  wages  which  are  so 
low  as  to  render  it  impossible  for  them  to  maintain  themselves 
and  family  in  an  adequate  and  decent  manner.  Or,  in  other 
words,  the  law  makers  recognize  that  a  parasitic  trade  is  a 
menace  to  the  well-being  of  any  community.  No  direct 
attempt  is  made  to  prevent  strikes  or  lockouts.  In  actual 
practice,  as  has  been  indicated  elsewhere,  the  minimum  wage 
boards  and  boards  of  industrial  arbitration  accomplish  almost 
the  same  ends.  Possibly,  fixing  the  maximum  number  of 
hours  to  be  worked  per  week  and  per  year  may  be  a  better 
and  more  practical  method  of  attacking  the  sweated  industries. 
The  first  American  state  to  pass  a  minimum  wage  law  was 
Massachusetts.  This  act  was  passed  in  191 2  and  went  into 
effect  in  1913.  In  the  latter  year,  eight  more  states  enacted 
legislation  —  California,    Colorado,     Minnesota,    Nebraska, 

*  Clark,  Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor.    No.  56:  67. 


THE  SWEATED  INDUSTRIES 


441 


Oregon,  Utah,  Washington  and  Wisconsin.  Arkansas  and 
Kansas  in  191 5,  Arizona  in  19 17,  North  Dakota  and  Texas 
in  1 9 19,  also  placed  minimum  wage  legislation  on  their  statute 
books.  The  federal  government  in  1918  enacted  such  legis- 
lation for  the  District  of  Columbia.  At  the  present  time 
(1920)  fourteen  states  and  the  District  of  Columbia  have 
laws  providing  for  a  minimum  wage  for  women  and  children 
in  all  or  specified  industries.  The  compulsory  arbitration 
law  passed  in  Kansas  practically  enacts  minimum  wage 
legislation  for  men.  The  National  War  Labor  Board  adopted 
the  principle  of  the  minimum  wage. 

The  laws  are  compulsory  in  all  of  the  fourteen  states  except 
Massachusetts  and  Nebraska.  In  these  two  states,  public 
opinion  is  depended  upon  to  enforce  the  rulings  of  the  com- 
mission. In  Nebraska,  the  commission  must  publish  in 
newspapers  the  names  of  employers  who  do  not  accept  the 
rulings  of  the  commission.  In  Massachusetts,  the  com- 
mission may  do  so.  In  Arizona,  Arkansas  and  Utah,  the 
minimum  rates  are  fixed  by  legislative  action;  in  the  re- 
maining states  a  minimum  wage  commission  or  industrial 
welfare  board,  appointed  by  the  governor,  is  given  authority 
to  fix  minimum  wages  and,  as  a  rule,  also  to  determine  other 
conditions  in  industries  employing  women  and  children. 
The  commission  may  undertake  an  investigation  itself  and 
make  a  wage  determination,  or  it  may  delegate  this  work  to 
a  subordinate  wage  board,  reserving  the  right  to  accept  or  to 
modify  the  findings  of  the  board.  In  nearly  all  of  the  four- 
teen states,  the  law  applies  to  all  industries;  but  in  Arizona, 
Arkansas  and  Colorado,  certain  industries  are  exempted  from 
the  operation  of  the  law. 

The  principle  of  minimum  wage  determination  is  that  of 
the  living  wage.  In  California,  it  is  the  "necessary  cost  of 
proper  living";  in  Oregon  and  Washington,  the  necessary 
cost  of  living;    in  Colorado,  Massachusetts  and  Nebraska, 


I 


W 


» 


I 


V 


vi 


442    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

the  cost  of  living  and  the  financial  condition  of  the  business. 
The  National  War  Labor  Board  adopted  the  following  prin-' 
ciple:  — *'In  fixing  wages,  minimum  rates  of  pay  shall  be 
established  which  will  insure  the  subsistence  of  the  worker 
and   his   family   in   health   and   reasonable   comfort."     The 
constitutionality  of  a  compulsory  minimum  wage  law  apply- 
ing to  women  and  children  was  upheld  by  the  United  States 
Supreme    Court   in    19 17.    The   slow   spread   of   minimum 
wage  legislation  compared  with  that  of  workingmen's  com- 
pensation in  the  United  States,  indicates  that  the  American 
people  do  not  consider  the  former  to  a  very  important  type 
of  legislation.    The  American  Federation  of  Labor  was  in 
191 5  in  favor  of  a  minimum  wage  law  for  children  and,  pre- 
sumably, not  in  favor  of  one  for  women  workers. 
^  2.  Trade  Unionism.    The  organization  of  the  workers  in  the 
sweated  industries  is  exceedingly  difficult  because  of  the  con- 
stant influx  of  immigrants  into  the  sweat-shops,  and  the  ig- 
norance and  isolation  of  the  workers.     The  unions  among  the 
workers  in  the  clothing  industries  are  increasing  in  strength, 
but  it  hardly  seems  probable  that  the  unions  can  cope  effec- 
tively with  the  home  sweat-shop.    One  temporary  effect  of 
partial  organization  is  to  intensify  the  struggle  in  the  remain- 
ing or  unorganized  portion  of  the  field.     The  union  label  is 
also  used  as  a  means  of  decreasing  the  consumption  of  sweat- 
shop goods  and  increasing  the  consumption  of  union  and 
factory-made  articles. 

i  3.  Education,  Our  public  day  schools  and  public  and  pri- 
vate night  schools  can  do  little  for  the  overworked  and  under- 
fed sweat-shop  worker;  but  the  child  of  the  worker  may  be 
aided.  Compulsory  education  laws  and  laws  forbidding  child 
labor  enable  the  public  school  to  teach  and  influence  the 
children  of  the  slums  and  the  sweat-shop.  A  knowledge  of 
the  English  language  and  of  American  customs  tends  to 
reduce  the  isolation,  which  is  a  powerful  bulwark  protecting 


THE   SWEATED   INDUSTRIES 


443 


and  prolonging  the  sweat-shop  evil.  Industrial  education  will 
give  the  child  greater  skill  and  mobility.  As  long  as  immigra- 
tion continues  unabated,  however,  the  school  system  cannot 
reach  the  heart  of  the  problem. 

As  a  weapon  against  the  sweated  industries,  education  of 
the  general  public  in  regard  to  the  dangers  of  the  sweat-shop 
is  held  in  high  esteem  by  many  thoughtful  observers.  The 
sweat-shop  will  die  a  natural  death  when  consumers  refuse 
to  purchase  its  products.  The  enthusiasts  favoring  the 
attack  upon  the  sweat-shop  by  directing  the  demand  of  the 
consumer  have  urged  publicity  as  to  the  conditions  in  sweat- 
shops and  the  dangers  to  the  consumer  of  their  products 
from  infectious  diseases.  They  have  taken  steps  to  make 
it  possible  to  identify  goods  made  and  sold  under  sanitary 
conditions  and  where  li\ing  wages  are  paid. 

The  National  Consumers'  League  was  organized  in  1899  to 
conduct  a  campaign  of  education  against  the  sweat-shop. 
The  earliest  league  of  this  character  was  the  New  York  Con- 
sumers' League  organized  in  1890.  The  New  York  organiza- 
tion directed  its  attention  chiefly  to  stores.  Stores  conducted 
under  "fair  conditions"  in  regard  to  wages  and  treatment  of 
employees  were  included  in  a  widely  circulated  "white  list " 
—  a  sort  of  negative  boycott  similar  in  nature  to  the  union 
label.  The  National  Consumers'  League  insists  that  the 
interests  of  the  community  and  of  the  nation  demand  that 
all  workers  shall  receive  living  wages,  and  that  all  goods  shall 
be  produced  under  healthful  conditions.  It  has  conducted 
a  vigorous  campaign  of  publicity,  and  in  recent  years  has 
aided  in  crystallizing  sentiment  in  favor  of  better  labor  laws. 
The  National  League  grants  the  right  to  use  the  Consumers' 
League  label  to  manufacturers  living  up  to  the  following  con- 
ditions: obedience  to  the  state  factory  laws;  all  goods  sold 
are  made  upon  the  premises;  overtime  is  not  allowed ;  and  no 
children  under  sixteen  years  of  age  are  employed. 


I'' 


■I 


444    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

While  the  work  of  the  National  Consumers'  League  in 
presenting  to  the  purchasing  public  a  picture  of  the  bad  con- 
ditions within  the  sweat-shop  and  in  calling  attention  to  the 
dangers  involved  in  wearing  clothing  made  under  such  con- 
ditions, has  been  of  considerable  value,  and  while  the  label 
has  been  of  some  importance  as  a  negative  weapon,  the  value 
of  such  attacks  upon  the  sweating  system  may  easily  be  over- 
estimated. The  sweat-shop  seems  far  away  to  the  majority 
of  consumers,  and  it  is  difficult  for  the  average  purchaser  to 
visualize  the  bad  conditions  and  the  dangers  associated  with 
it  and  its  products.  The  frantic  rush  to  the  bargain  counter 
of  the  department  store  indicates  either  that  the  ideals  and 
principles  of  the  League  have  not  touched  the  general  public 
or  that  these  intangible  entities  give  way  readily  before  the 
tangible  and  forceful  appeal  of  the  pocketbook. 

The  leaders  of  the  League  seem  to  have  recognized  that 
publicity  and  the  negative  boycott  are  inadequate  weapons. 
In  1910  a  ten  years'  program  was  outlined.  The  important 
items  in  that  program  relate  to  agitation  for  legislation  of  a 
broad  and  general  type.  The  League  stands  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  minimum  wage  boards,  for  the  ten-hour  day  as 
the  maximum  for  wage  earning  women  in  all  states  of  the 
Union,  for  the  conservation  of  young  workers,  and  for  the 
improvement  of  our  pure  food  laws.  Under  the  head  of  con- 
serving young  workers  the  League  is  demanding  better  laws 
against  child  labor,  and  is  striving  to  secure  better  educa- 
tional provisions  for  working  girls  and  boys  from  sixteen  to 
twenty-one  years  of  age.^  The  consumers'  League  evidently 
recognizes  that  the  abolition  of  the  sweat-shop  can  come  onlv 
through  the  improvement  of  conditions  in  all  lines  of  industry. 
The  treatment  must  be  general,  not  local. 

4.  Systematization  of  Industry,     Irregularity  of  work  is  one 

>  Florence  Kelley,  "Ten  Years  from  Now,"  The  Survey.  March  26,  1910, 
pp.  978-981. 


i 


THE  SWEATED  INDUSTRIES 


445 


characteristic  of  a  sweating  system.    Rush  seasons  are  fol- 
lowed by  dull  seasons;  the  sweated  worker  is  forced  for  a  few 
weeks  to  exert  himself  almost  to  the  limit  of  his  physical 
powers,  and  then  perhaps  he  will  be  out  of  work  during  the 
slack  season.    In  a  measure  this  irregularity  cannot  be  avoided. 
Especially  is  this  the  case  when  the  demand  is  dependent  upon 
the  whims  of  fashion.    No  manufacturer  is  able  to  foresee  the 
eccentricities  of  the  demands  of  fashion.     But  better  organi- 
zation of  the  particular  business  and  the  growth  of  the  factory 
system  will  measurably  reduce  the  pendulum  swing  from  rush 
to  slack  seasons;   by  manufacturing  in  the  slack  period  those 
garments  or  other  articles  for  which  the  demand  in  the  future 
may  be  calculated  with  a  fair  degree  of  accuracy,  the  irregu- 
larity can  be  somewhat  reduced.     The  growth  of  'trustifica- 
tion" in  industry  tends  to  eliminate  many  of  the  small  shops. 
The  large  business  is  capable  of  certain  economies  impossible 
in  the  case  of  the  small  shop,  and  it  is  best  able  to  coordinate 
supply  with  demand.     The  contractor  or  the  middleman  is 
pushed  to  the  wall  as  large  industry  reaches  out  for  all  forms 
of  profit.    As  has  been  indicated,  the  enlargement  of  the  busi- 
ness unit  is  gradually  eliminating  the  contractor's  sweat-shop. 
The  contractor  with  a  small  shop  is  being  changed  into  the 
foreman  of  a  department  in  a  factory;  but  the  home  sweat- 
shop may  still  persist  as  a  subsidiary  part  of  the  factory 
system. 

Public  employment  bureaus  and  bureaus  for  the  distribu- 
tion of  immigrants  can  reduce  the  congestion  of  the  working 
population  in  our  cities,  and  in  a  measure  equalize  the  demand 
between  different  sections  of  the  country.  The  dovetailing  of 
seasonal  industries  so  as  to  give  wage  earners  opportunities 
to  work  throughout  the  entire  year  would  reduce  the  amount 
of  overtime  worked  and  the  excessive  over-driving  of  the 
worker  during  the  rush  period  of  a  seasonal  and  a  sweated  in- 
dustry.   As  long  as  the  supply  of  unskilled  labor  is  redundant, 


n 

li 

;^ 

if 


\ 


■'■'  ! 


h 


446    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

the  economic  incentive  to  dovetail  industries  will,  however, 
be  slight.  A  well-managed  and  extensive  system  of  public 
employment  bureaus  could  give  efficient  service  in  transferring 
workers  from  one  seasonal  industry  to  another.  If,  however, 
attempts  of  that  nature  increase  the  size  of  the  homeless  and 
itinerant  group  of  wage  earners,  the  resultant  evils  may  equal 
or  exceed  those  which  it  is  desired  to  reduce  or  eliminate. 

Sweating  in  the  Factory.    The  characteristic  marks  of  a 
sweated  industry  are  found  in  many  large-scale  factory  indus- 
tries where  large  masses  of  unskilled  and  unorganized  or  not 
well-organized  workers  are  employed.    A  large  steel  corpora- 
tion which  works  its  blast  furnace  men  twelve  hours  per  day 
or  per  night  in  an  unhealthful  and  dangerous  environment 
is  conducting  a  sweated  industry.    The  long  day,  the  severe 
physical  and  nervous  strain,  speeding-up,  and  the  prodding 
of  the  overseer  are  found  in  as  aggravated  a  form  as  in  any 
insignificant  sweat-shop  of   the   tenements.     The   incentive 
which  tends  to  produce  a  sweating  system  is  present  wherever 
the  foreman  gets  a  percentage  of  the  difference  between  the 
cost  of  the  material  plus  the  wages  and  the  value  of  the  prod- 
uct turned  out  in  his  department.     The  method  employed 
by  large  manufacturing  establishments  and  department  stores 
of  pitting  one  manager  against  another  and  of  comparing  the 
output  or  sales  this  month  or  this  year  with  preceding  months 
and  years,  certainly  is  well  calculated  to  develop  phases  of  a 
sweated  industry.     In  the  Chicago  stock  yards,  after  the  defeat 
of  the  unionists  in  the  strike  of  1904,  uncertainty  and  irregu- 
larity of  promotion  operated  to  speed  up  the  workers.     One 
observer  remarked  that  "a  sense  of  insecurity  prevailed  all 
along  the  line."      Each  man  was  anxious  to  replace  the  man 
above  him,  and  each  feared  that  he  would  be  superseded  by 
the  man  in  the  ranks  below  —  and  outside  the  gates  stood 
many,  anxiously  looking  for  jobs.     This  glance  at  the  tend- 
ency of  modern  business  engineering  leads  to  the  following 


THE  SWEATED  INDUSTRIES 


447 


query.  If  unchecked  by  legislative  enactments  and  trade 
union  action,  do  not  the  conditions  of  competitive  industry 
lead  to  the  long  working  day,  over-driving,  and  insanitary 
workshops  -  that  is,  toward  a  sweating  system?  Is  not 
the  position  of  the  entrepreneur  between  the  consumer  and 
the  workingman  similar  to  that  of  the  foreman  or  the  con- 
tractor whose  profits  or  income  depends  on  the  amount  of 
work  turned  out  in  his  department  or  workshop? 

Within  the  last  two  or  three  decades  changes  have  taken 
place  in  certain  of  our  basic  industries  which  have  led  to  the 
development  of  working  and  living  conditions  approximating 
those  surrounding  the  typical  sweated  worker.     The  wood- 
men are  today  homeless  workers  in  logging  camps;  ice  is  also 
cut  by  the  homeless  man  Hving  in  the  bunk-house.     Con- 
struction gangs  working  on  railways,  canals,  reservoirs,  and 
the  like,  are  often  herded  together  like  cattle  and  hve  m 
insanitary   quarters.     Berries   are   picked,   beet    and   omon 
fields  weeded,  and  the  grain  of  the  West  harvested  by  a  class 
of  floating  workers  Uving  and  working  under  abnormal  con- 
ditions —  conditions  which  endanger  the  physical  and  moral 
stamina  of  the  workers.    At  the  conclusion  of  the  season 
many  drift  back  to  the  cities  to  increase  the  debauchery, 
disease,  and  crime  of  our  crowded  centers  of  population.    The 
problem  of  the  homeless  and  itinerant  worker  m  these  ele- 
mental industries  is  one  which  ought  to  attract  much  atten- 
tion.    It  is  growing  in  importance.     Immediately  and  directly 
it  is  a  rural  problem;    but  more  remotely  and  indirectly  it 
compUcates  the  social  problems  of  our  cities.     Pubhcity  and 
regulative  enactments  are  needed.^ 

^  See  The  Survey,  Jan.  i,  1910  and  Aug.  7,  1909.  A^o  Robins  '^^Rfrl'f 
Confereme  of  ChariUes  and  Correction,  1907.  Tugwell  and  Winstead,  The 
Survey,  July  3,  1920. 


I 


448    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

Report  on  Condition  of  Women  and  Child  Wage-earners  in  the  United 
States.  Vol.  2  (191 1).  "Men's  Ready-made  Clothing,"  Senate  Docu- 
ment, No.  645,  Sixty-first  Congress,  second  session.  Chs.  5  and  6 
present  an  excellent  statement  of  sweating  in  the  clothing  industry. 

Commons,  "Foreign-Born  Labor  in  the  Clothing  Trades,"  Report 
of  the  Industrial  Commission.  Vol.  15:  316-384.  See  also  Vol.  19: 
740-746. 

Kelley,  Some  Ethical  Gains  through  Legislation,  pp.  209-255. 

Adams  and  Sumner,  Labor  Problems.    Ch.  4. 

Webb,  Industrial  Democracy,  pp.  749-760. 

Bolen,  Getting  a  Living.     Ch.  18. 

Hobson,  Problems  of  Poverty.     Chs.  4,  5,  and  6. 

Bliss,  New  Encyclopedia  of  Social  Reform.    Article  on  Sweat-shops. 

New  International  Encyclopedia.  Articles  on  the  Consumers'  League 
and  the  Sweating  System. 

MacLean,  "The  Sweat-Shop  in  Summer,"  American  Journal  of 
Sociology.     Vol.  9:  289. 

Sergeant,   "The  Toilers  of  the  Tenement,"   McClure's  Magazine. 

July,  1910. 

Clark,  "Labor  Conditions  in  Australia,"  Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of 
Labor.    No.  56.     Section  on  Minimum  Wage  Boards. 

Kelley,  "Ten  Years  from  Now,"  The  Survey,  March  26,  1910,  pp. 
978-981;  also  The  Survey,  November  27,  191 5. 

Webb,  Problems  of  Modern  Industry,  pp.  139-155.    Remedies. 

Commons  and  Andrews,  Principles  of  Labor  Legislation.     Ch.  4. 

Taussig,  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics.  Vol.  30,  pp.  411  ff.  (May, 
1916.)    Argument  against  the  minimum  wage. 

Hammond,  "Wage  Boards  in  Australia,"  Quarterly  Journal  of  Eco- 
nomics. Vol.  29.  (1914-1915.)  Also,  American  Economic  Review^ 
June,  1913. 

Parker,  The  Casual  Laborer. 

Bulletins  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.    Nos.  167,  176,  224,  229. 

Douglas,  "American  Minimum  Wage  Laws  at  Work,"  American 
Economic  Review.    Vol.  9,  pp.  701  ff,    (December,  1919.) 


CHAPTER  XIV 


CHILD   LABOR 


m 


The  child  labor  problem  is  only  a  part  of  the  more  inclusive 
boy  and  girl  problem  which  has  been  thrust  upon  an  unpre- 
pared nation  by  modern  industry  and  city  life.  To  the  wage 
earner  child  labor  appears  to  be  a  form  of  subsidized  labor. 
The  dangers  involved  seem  to  be  similar  to  those  connected 
with  the  immigration  of  low-standard-of-living  workers,  with 
woman  labor,  and  mth  convict  labor.  Child  labor  is  not  a  new 
phenomenon,  nor  is  it  in  essence  an  evil.  The  environmental 
conditions  surrounding  the  modern  child  wage  earner,  the 
kind  of  work  which  he  must  perform,  the  regularity  and 
routine  incidental  to  its  performance,  and  the  competition 
between  the  child  and  the  adidt  workers  are  elements  which 
make  child  labor  in  factories,  stores,  and  mines  at  the  present 
time  an  evil  and  a  menace  to  the  race,  to  the  nation,  and  to 
organized  labor.  For  the  boy  and  girl  of  ten  to  sixteen  years 
of  age,  some  opportunity  to  perform  useful  work  —  produc- 
tive activity  —  is  a  valuable,  almost  an  essential,  part  of  his 
or  her  experience  and  training.  On  the  other  hand,  long 
continued,  routine  work,  performed  under  unfavorable  con- 
ditions, is  deadening,  and  inevitably  causes  physical,  mental, 
and  moral  weakness. 

The  chores  of  the  typical  farmer  boy  of  a  generation  or  two 
ago,  if  not  multiplied  too  freely,  were  excellent  for  the  pur- 
pose of  training  and  developing  the  youth.  Work  at  home, 
before  the  day  when  the  factory  took  almost  all  forms  of  in- 
dustry out  of  the  household,  was  not  an  unmixed  evil  for  the 
child;  but  a  long  working  day  filled  with  routine  work  in  a 

449 


li 


\\ 


I 


■  t 


i  t- ' 


I 


# 


450    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

factory  or  a  sweatrshop  environment  robs  the  child  of  child- 
hood, retards  the  progress  of  the  nation,  reduces  the  vigor  of 
the  race,  and  endangers  the  maintenance  of  a  high  standard 
of  Uving  among  adult  wage  earners.  The  advocates  of  the 
prohibition  of  child  labor  do  not  believe  that  idleness  and 
irresponsibility  are  necessary  or  desirable  for  the  normal  de- 
velopment of  children.  They  do  assert  that  long  continued, 
specialized  labor  is  extremely  deleterious  to  the  child  until 
after  the  period  of  adolescence  is  past.  The  child  should  be 
taught  to  use  hand  and  eye  in  useful,  regular,  and  constructive 
work.  Prohibition  of  child  labor  in  factories,  stores,  and  mines 
ought  to  be  coupled  with  compulsory  manual  or  industrial 
training  in  the  public  schools.  The  loss  of  opportunities  for 
industrial  training  in  the  home  and  the  complication  of 
industrial  processes  push  into  the  foreground  the  problems 
connected  with  industrial  and  trade  education,  and  with 
apprenticeship.  The  solution  of  these  problems  is  of  vital 
importance  to  organized  labor  and  to  the  nation.  The  mere 
passage  and  adequate  enforcement  of  laws  prohibiting  child 
labor  in  workshops,  stores,  and  mines  is  not  sufficient. 

Child  Labor  Before  the  Civil  War,  With  the  rise  of  the 
middle  class  in  England,  headed  by  the  Tudors,  and  with 
the  breaking  of  the  old  feudal  fetters  was  developed  the  idea 
that  idleness  was  a  sin  of  the  darkest  hue.  The  Tudors  were 
ever  crying  at  the  English  laborer:  ''Ye  are  idle,  ye  are 
idle,  go,  therefore,  now  and  work."  The  Puritan  with  his 
convictions  tinged  by  religious  ardor  held  firmly  and  fanati- 
cally to  the  view  of  the  Tudors.  According  to  the  Puritan, 
the  man,  woman,  or  child  who  was  idle  stood  in  slippery 
places.  In  studying  the  facts  in  regard  to  woman  and  child 
labor  during  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  effect 
of  this  inherited  puritanical  idea  must  never  be  lost  sight 
of.  A  century  ago,  to  give  a  child  work  in  a  factory  was 
considered  to  be  just,   proper,  and  philanthropic.    Today, 


CHILD  LABOR 


451 


philanthropists  and  reformers  are  anxious  to  keep  the  child 
out  of  the  factory,  store,  and  mine,  and  to  give  him  a  reason- 
able opportunity  to  play. 

Before  the  factory  era  children  were  employed  in  many 
kinds  of  household  industry,  and  served  as  apprentices  in 
certain  skilled  trades.  The  growth  of  factories  called  them 
outside  the  home,  massed  them  together  in  considerable 
numbers,  introduced  greater  regularity  and  specialization  into 
their  occupations,  and  gave  more  publicity  to  the  evils  of 
excessive  child  labor  than  was  the  case  under  the  older  form 
of  household  industry.  When  the  factor}^  system  was  in  its 
infancy,  one  argument  frequently  used  in  favor  of  the  intro- 
duction of  factories  was  that  the  factor}'  could  utilize  the 
labor  of  women  and  children  who  were  idle.  The  old  puri- 
tanical idea  that  idleness  was  a  sin  and  a  waste,  was  effec- 
tively used  to  break  down  opposition  to  the  factory  system 
and  to  obtain  favorable  legislation.  Alexander  Hamilton  and 
other  early  protectionists  declared  that  the  factory  would 
enable  the  manufacturer  to  employ  child  and  woman  workers 
in  a  more  systematic  and  profitable  manner  than  they  could 
be  employed  under  the  old  system.  As  a  consequence,  in- 
creased production  in  the  factories  would  not  necessitate  the 
withdrawal  of  the  efficient  adult  male  workers  from  agricul- 
ture, shipping,  fishing,  or  the  skilled  trades.  The  introduc- 
tion of  manufacture  would,  it  was  solemnly  argued,  "give 
employment  to  a  great  number  of  persons,  esp>ecially  females, 
who  now  eat  the  bread  of  idleness.''  Writers  calmly  esti- 
mated the  additional  product  which  might  accrue  to  a  given 
town  or  state  if  all  the  children  were  employed  in  gainful 
occupations.  The  children,  they  asserted,  could  obtain  their 
schooling  in  night  schools.  A  writer  in  Niles^  Register,^  a 
prominent  weekly  newspaper  of  the  first  half  of  last  century, 
made  a  cold-blooded  calculation  as  to  the  additional  amount 

1  October  5,  1816.    Vol.  11  :  86. 


i 

T 


^' 


452     HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

of  wealth  which  might  accrue  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States  if  all  the  children,  not  then  employed,  could  be  placed 
m  mills  and  factories.  It  was  urged  that  such  a  step  would 
be  a  benefit,  not  only  to  manufacture,  but  to  commerce  and 
agriculture  as  well.  This  enthusiastic  calculator  figured  that 
two  hundred  children  from  seven  to  sixteen  years  of  age 
ought  to  earn  $13,500  per  year.  Their  clothing  was  esti- 
mated to  cost  $5,000;  $8,500  would  be  left  for  boarding  and 
educating  the  children.  By  placing  them  in  factories,  chil- 
dren could  entirely  pay  for  their  maintenance,  and  thus  one 
source  of  national  waste  would  be  dried  up.  The  factory  was 
a  strange  phenomenon.  The  men  of  the  period  did  not  and 
could  not  see  the  dangers  involved  in  child  labor  in  the  mills; 
they  had  been  taught  to  see  the  sinful  side  of  leisure,  and  they 
clearly  saw  the  opportunity  to  augment  profits  through  the 
emplo>Tnent  of  children.  Soon,  however,  the  evils  of  unre- 
stricted child  labor  in  mills  and  factories  became  quite  ap- 
parent, and  agitation  for  legal  restriction  began.  The  wage 
earners  and  the  humanitarian  leaders  were  interested  in  the 
propaganda  against  child  labor. 

The  factory  system  originated  in  England,  and  in  that 
country  the  treatment  of  woman  and  child  wage  earners  was 
perhaps  worse  than  in  this  country.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
relate  the  oft-repeated  story  of  the  treatment  of  the  "pauper 
apprentices"  in  the  cotton  mills  of  England.  The  wrongs  of 
the  slave  pale  when  placed  in  contrast  with  the  treatment  of 
the  child  worker  in  Christian  England  of  the  first  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  While  England  was  enthusiastic  over 
the  emancipation  of  the  Negro  in  the  West  Indies,  her  factory 
owners  were  filling  their  pockets  with  gold  wrung  from  the 
vitality  of  thousands  of  young  white  children  held  in  a 
bondage  as  pitiless  as  that  of  the  far-away  plantation  owner. 
For  several  reasons  the  situation  in  this  country  never  became 
as  acute  as  in  England.    The  factory  did  not  appear  in  this 


CHILD  LABOR 


453 


country  until  after  England  had  made  some  attempts  at 
factory  regulation.  The  presence  of  large  areas  of  fertile  and 
undeveloped  farm  land  in  the  West  and  the  absence  of  a  large 
number  of  pauper  children  were  also  ameliorating  factors. 

Certain  writers  have  apparently  assumed  that  children  were 
rarely  employed  in  factories  prior  to  i860;  but  the  early 
textile  factories  were  operated  chiefly  by  women  and  children. 
While  it  is  true  that  the  total  number  of  children  employed  in 
gainful  occupations  is  larger  in  recent  decades  than  in  the 
second  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century,  it  is  also  undoubt- 
edly true  that  the  relative  number  thus  engaged  has  not 
materially  increased  and  has  probably  decreased.  Accurate 
statistics  are,  of  course,  not  available,  but  a  study  of  contem- 
porary books,  pamphlets,  reports,  and  newspapers  leaves  little 
doubt  as  to  the  accuracy  of  the  conclusion  just  drawn.  In 
1820  over  5,000  pupils  were  reported  to  be  on  the  rolls  of  the 
public  schools  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  With  the  return  of 
prosperous  times  the  demand  for  child  workers  increased  and 
the  school  attendance  correspondingly  diminished.  In  1821 
less  than  3,000  children  were  in  the  schools.  "In  1822  the 
attendance  was  450  less  than  in  182 1,  and  in  1823,  it  was  less 
than  half  what  it  had  been  in  1820."  ^  In  1832  Seth  Luther, 
a  spokesman  of  the  workingmen,  in  his  pamphlet  "The 
Education  of  Workingmen"  called  attention  to  the  evils  of 
child  labor  in  England.  In  1825  a  committee  of  the  state 
legislature  of  Massachusetts  investigated  child  labor  in  the 
factories  of  incorporated  manufacturing  companies.  Over 
nine  hundred  children  under  sixteen  years  of  age  were  re- 
ported as  employed  in  these  establishments.  The  average 
length  of  the  working  day  was  twelve  or  thirteen  hours.  No 
investigation  was  made  of  child  employment  in  unincorpo- 
rated establishments.  One  sentence  from  this  report  is 
indicative  of  public  opinion  in  1825.     "Regard  is  paid  to  the 

*  McMaster,  History  oj  the  American  People.    Vol.  5  :  360. 


11 


454    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

instruction  of  these  juvenile  laborers  as  opportunity  permits, 
but  some  further  legislative  provisions  may  hereafter  become 
necessary,  that  the  children  who  are  at  a  future  day  to  become 
proprietors  of  these  establishments,  or  at  least  greatly  to 
influence  their  affairs,  may  not  be  subjected  to  too  great  de- 
votion to  pecuniary  interest  at  the  risk  of  more  than  an  equiv- 
alent injury  in  the  neglect  of  intellectual  improvement."  * 

In  1828   a  correspondent  of  the  National  Intelligencer,  a 
prominent  newspaper  of  the  time,  estimated    that  all  the 
machinery  in  the  country  required  about  forty  thousand  per- 
sons,   "principally    women    and    children."     The    following 
statistics  of  a  cotton  mill,  owned  by  the  Union  Manufacturing 
Company  of  Maryland,  were  taken  from  a  newspaper  dated 
December  10,  1822.     This  mill  had  four  thousand  spindles 
and  fifty  power-looms.    The  number  of  employees  was  184, 
of  which  number  120  were  "girls,"  and  58  boys,  between  the 
ages  of  seven  and  nineteen  years.    Only  six  men  were  em- 
ployed.   "The  girls  and  boys  live  with  their  parents  on  the 
ground,  where  there  is  now  a  population  exceeding  six  hun- 
dred people,  living  in  the  dwellings  in  the  factory  village,  for 
which  they  pay  rent.    There  is  a  school-house  under  good 
supervision,  which  is  also  used  as  a  house  of  worship,  is  well 
attended  to  by  ministers  of  various  denominations,  and  where 
all  employed  by  the  company  have  free  access.    ...   An 
extensive   store  is  kept   by  the  company,  affording  every 
article  of  provision  and  clothing  sufficient  for  those  employed 
in  the  neighborhood  for  many  miles  around."     The  prob- 
lems connected  with  child  labor,  night  schools,  the  company 
store,  and  tenements  were  all  involved  in  this  factory  of 
ninety  years  ago.    The  relations  existing  between  this  com- 
pany and  its  employees  must  have  been  similar  to  those 
found  in  Pullman,  in  the  copper  country  of  northern  Michi- 
gan, and  elsewhere.    It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  first 

*  Documentary  History  of  American  Industrial  Society.    Vol.  5  :  59. 


CHILD  LABOR 


455 


factory  industries  to  develop  were  those  which  did  not  require 
considerable  muscular  development  on  the  part  of  the 
workers;  lightness  of  touch  and  rapidity  of  movement  were 
demanded.  The  textile  industries  were  particularly  well 
adapted  to  the  employment  of  women  and  children.  With 
the  growth  of  the  iron  and  steel  mills,  little  increased 
demand  for  women  and  child  workers  Was  manifested. 

Child  Labor  during  Recent  Decades.  Prior  to  1870  no 
adequate  statistics  in  regard  to  child  labor  in  the  United 
States  are  available.  The  census  of  1870  reported  that 
739,164  children  between  the  ages  of  ten  and  fifteen  years 
inclusive  were  engaged  in  gainful  occupations.  Of  this  num- 
ber 114,628  were  employed  in  manufacturing  establishments. 
During  the  succeeding  decade  the  number  of  child  laborers 
increased  with  alarming  rapidity.  In  1880,  1,118,536  child 
wage  earners  were  reported  in  all  occupations.  The  census 
figures  for  1890  are  not  strictly  comparable  with  those  of 
other  census  reports  because  a  different  classification  was 
adopted.  In  1900,  1,750,178  breadwinners,  ten  to  fifteen 
years  of  age,  were  reported.  Of  the  total,  1,264,411  were 
males  and  485,767  were  females.  The  census  returns  made 
no  enumeration  of  child  workers  under  ten  years  of  age. 
This  number  was  not  large,  however,  as  only  8.1  per  cent, 
of  the  total  were  ten  years  of  age.  Of  the  total  in  all 
occupations,  1,061,971  or  60.2  per  cent,  were  engaged  in 
"agricultural  pursuits,"  and  688,207  or  39.8  per  cent,  were 
"in  all  other  occupations."  The  census  figures  have  been 
called  "notoriously  inadequate."  A  Maryland  law  of  1906 
required  all  children  under  sixteen  years  of  age  to  obtain 
working  permits  if  they  desired  to  become  wage  earners. 
Over  twice  as  many  applied  for  such  permits  as  were  re- 
ported by  the  census  of  1900.1  At  the  first  of  the  year  1903 
it  was  estimated  that  20,000  children  under  the  age  of  twelve 
^  Beveridge,  Speech  in  the  Senate,  January,  1907. 


1 

.1 


ti\ 


m 


m 


hi 


456    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

years  were  working  in  the  factories  of  the  South.  The  Com- 
missioners of  Labor  found  9,665  child  workers  in  the  cotton 
mills  of  six  Southern  states  in  the  year  1908.  The  distri- 
bution of  child  laborers  according  to  ages  was  in  1900: 


Age 

IS 

u 

13 

13 
II 
10 


Number 
552,854 
406,701 
268,427 

221,313 
158,778 
142,105 


r  Cent. 

Per  Cent 

31.6 
23.2 

54.8 

iS-3, 
12.6J 

27.9 

91 

8.1  J 

17.2 

Over  one-half  of  the  child  laborers  ten  to  fifteen  years  of  age 
were  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  of  age.  In  the  manufacturing 
industries  5.6  per  cent,  of  the  total  number  of  employees  in 
1870  were  children;  6.7  per  cent,  in  1880;  and  3.2  per  cent. 

in  1900. 

The  conditions  under  which  wage-earning  children  perform 
their  duties  vary  greatly  with  different  industries.  Many 
dark,  but  truthful,  pictures  may  be  painted  of  the  child 
laborer  in  mines,  mills,  canneries,  and  stores.  The  glass  bot- 
tle industry  has  been  well  named  a  *' boy-destroying  indus- 
try." Boys  are  required  to  carry  loads  of  bottles  in  a  heated 
atmosphere  and  at  a  rapid  pace.  ''The  speed  required  and 
the  heated  atmosphere  render  continuous ,  trotting  most 
exhausting. "  The  boys  are  "stunted,  illiterate,  profane,  and 
obscene,  —  wrecked  in  body  and  in  mind  before  entering 
upon  the  long  adolescence  known  to  happier  children."^ 
The  work  of  the  boys  employed  in  the  coal  breakers  of  Penn- 
sylvania is  hard  and  unhealthful.  The  cramped  position 
leads  to  physical  deformity.  "  Clouds  of  dust  fill  the  breakers 
and  are  inhaled  by  the  boys,  laying  the  foundation  for  asthma 
and  miners'  consumption."  2     Work  in  the  canneries  is  often 

1  Kelley,  Charities,  July  4,  1903.     See  also  Report  on  Condition  of  Women 
and  Child  Wage-Earners  in  the  United  States.     Vol.  3:  108-109. 
»  Sparge,  The  Bitter  Cry  of  the  Children,  p.  164. 


CHILD  LABOR 


457 


performed  under  conditions  which  are  inimical  to  the  health 
and  morals  of  children.  The  bean  season,  for  example,  lasts 
about  six  weeks.  The  work  of  entire  families  is  frequently 
utilized.  The  families  live  in  shacks.  The  children's  little 
fingers  are  particularly  dexterous  in  bean  stringing.  They 
sit  close  to  mother  or  sister,  working  for  hours  at  intense 
speed.  Occasionally,  "  they  may  be  released  to  take  a  box  of 
beans  to  the  weigher,  carrying  for  several  hundred  feet  weights 
too  heavy  for  their  tender  years."  ^  Mr.  Love  joy,  after  a 
study  of  the  night  messenger  service,  declares  that  it  is  "a 
menace  to  moral  character,"  an  "obstacle  to  physical  devel- 
opment," and  a  barrier  to  future  industrial  efficiency .^  These 
pictures  —  they  are  only  a  few  selected  from  a  multitude  — 
may  represent  only  the  more  dangerous  and  deteriorating 
forms  of  child  labor;  but  that  children  in  the  United  States  are 
actually  thus  working  day  after  day  is  a  severe  indictment  of 
American  civilization. 

Early  Legislation  in  England.  During  the  last  years  of  the 
eighteenth  and  the  opening  years  of  the  nineteenth  century 
the  distinctive  evils  which  are  now  recognized  as  inseparably 
connected  with  child  labor  in  factory,  mine,  or  store  appeared. 
**The  beginning  of  the  present  [nineteenth]  century  found 
children  of  five,  and  even  of  three  years  of  age,  in  England, 
working  in  factories  and  brickyards;  women  working  under- 
ground in  mines,  harnessed  with  mules  to  carts,  drawing 
heavy  loads;  found  the  hours  of  labor  whatever  the  avarice  of 
individual  mill-owners  might  exact,  were  it  thirteen,  or  four- 
teen, or  fifteen;  found  no  guards  about  machinery  to  protect 
life  and  limb;  found  the  air  of  the  factory  fouler  than  language 
can  describe,  even  could  human  ears  bear  to  hear  the  story."' 

*  Goldmark,  Annals  of  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science, 
March,  19 10. 

*  Lovejoy,  The  Survey.    May  21,  1909. 
'  Walker,  Political  Economy,  p.  381. 


f:i 


\i 


458    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

•Pauper  children  were  "farmed  out'*  to  factory  owners. 
Frightful  accounts  are  given  of  the  day  and  night  work  of 
children,  and  of  the  relay  system  in  factory  and  boarding 
house,  —  one  gang  worked  while  another  slept;  thus  the 
beds  in  the  boarding  house  were  kept  occupied  practically 

all  the  time. 

These  evil  conditions  soon  attracted  public  attention. 
Through  the  exertions  of  Sir  Robert  Peel  and  other  humani- 
tarian leaders  of  the  period  the  first  child  labor  law  was  passed 
in  1802.  The  title  gives  evidence  of  the  limitations  of  the 
act,  —  ''Health  and  Morals  Act  to  regulate  the  Labor  of 
Bound  Children  in  Cotton  Factories."  It  was  a  crude  piece 
of  legislation  which  only  attempted  to  regulate  the  employ- 
ment of  pauper  apprentices.  The  employer  was  required  to 
clothe  his  apprentices  properly;  and  the  hours  of  labor  law- 
fully required  of  the  apprentice  were  limited  to  twelve  per 
day.  No  child  under  nine  years  of  age  could  legally  become 
a  ''bound  child."  Night  work  was  prohibited,  and  the  pro- 
visions of  the  law  required  daily  instruction  of  the  apprentice. 
The  walls  of  factories  were  to  be  whitewashed,  and  the  rooms 
adequately  ventilated.  This  act  is  important  because  it  was 
the  first  act  of  its  kind.  It  was  practically  inoperative;  but 
it  established  the  principle  of  parliamentary  interference  in 
behalf  of  working  children.  As  the  factory  system  developed 
and  towns  sprang  up  around  the  factories,  the  need  of  pauper 
apprentices  was  reduced.  The  children  of  residents  could 
readily  be  obtained.  In  181 5  a  committee  was  appointed 
by  Parliament  to  investigate  the  conditions  of  working  chil- 
dren. The  testimony  given  before  this  committee  disclosed 
the  fact  that  very  young  children,  some  not  over  six  years  of 
age,  were  employed  in  factories;  and  that  the  length  of  their 
working  day  was  twelve  hours  or  more.  As  a  result  of  this 
investigation  the  "second  factory  act"  was  passed  in  1819. 
This  act  also  only  applied  to  cotton  factories;  but  protection 


CHILD  LABOR 


459 


was  extended  to  children  who  were  not  "pauper  apprentices." 
The  act  prohibited  the  employment  of  children  imder  nine 
years  of  age,  and  limited  the  working  day  for  all  children 
between  the  ages  of  nine  and  sixteen  years  to  twelve  hours. 
Night  work  was  prohibited.  Other  acts  of  minor  importance 
were  passed  from  time  to  time.  In  1833,  after  another 
investigating  committee  had  reported  that  conditions  were 
still  deplorable,  a  more  adequate  statute  was  enacted.  This 
law  of  1833  applied  to  all  textile  mills.  Children  between 
the  ages  of  nine  and  thirteen  years  were  permitted  to  work 
only  eight  hours  daily;  and  children  between  the  ages  of 
thirteen  and  eighteen,  twelve  hours  daily.  The  prohibition  of 
night  work  was  continued.  A  certain  number  of  holidays  and 
half-holidays  were  granted;  and  a  physician's  certificate  of 
fitness  for  labor  was  required.  The  earlier  laws  had  not 
provided  for  adequate  inspection  and  means  <5f  enforcing  their 
provisions.  The  most  important  innovation  in  the  act  of 
1833  was  the  provision  for  salaried  inspectors.  The  inspec- 
tors were  granted  power  to  make  rules  for  the  execution  of 
the  law,  and  were  required  to  prosecute  violations  of  its  pro- 
visions. In  1842  the  employment  of  women  and  of  children 
under  ten  years  of  age  in  underground  mines  was  prohibited. 
Two  years  later  the  "Children's  Half-Time  Act"  was  passed. 
The  labor  of  children  under  thirteen  years  of  age  was  restricted 
to  half-time.  The  remaining  half  of  the  working  day  was  to 
be  spent  in  school.  In  1848  all  women  and  all  children  under 
eighteen  years  of  age  were  restricted  to  a  working  day  of 
ten  hours.  By  the  middle  of  the  century  the  right  of  Parlia- 
ment to  pass  what  are  known  as  "factory  acts"  was  definitely 
established. 

Legislation  in  the  United  States,  In  1836  Massachusetts 
enacted  legislation  regulating  the  instruction  of  children 
employed  in  manufacturing  establishments.  In  1842  the 
working  day  for  children  under  twelve  years  of  age  was 


; 


m\ 


^::i 


N  I 


" 


460    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

limited  to  ten  hours.  Ohio  enacted  her  first  child  labor  law 
in  1852,  Illinois  and  Wisconsin  in  1877,  and  Michigan  in  1885. 
These  early  laws  fixed  the  age  limit  under  which  no  child 
could  be  employed,  prescribed  the  maximum  number  of  work- 
ing hours  per  day  or  per  week  for  those  who  might  be  em- 
ployed, and  prohibited  the  employment  of  children  in  certain 
dangerous  or  unhealthful  occupations.  Penalties  were  pro- 
vided for  violations;  but  the  acts  were,  as  a  rule,  somewhat 
indefinite  and  the  provisions  for  enforcement  inadequate. 
The  real  precursors  of  adequate  child  labor  legislation  were 
the  two  Massachusetts  acts  of  1866  and  1867.  The  employ- 
ment of  children  under  ten  years  of  age  in  manufacturing 
establishments  was  forbidden.  Three  months  schooKng  each 
year  was  required  in  the  case  of  wage-earning  children  ten 
to  fifteen  years  of  age.  No  child  under  fifteen  years  could 
lawfully  be  employed  in  any  manufacturing  establishment 
for  more  than  sixty  hours  per  week.  Provision  was  made 
for  inspection,  and  annual  reports  were  to  be  made  by  the 
inspecting  officer  to  the  governor.  Penalties  were  provided 
for  the  violation  of  the  act. 

All  of  the  forty-eight  states,  the  District  of  Columbia, 
Alaska,  Hawaii,  and  Porto  Rico  have  laws  relating  to  child 
labor  upon  their  statute  books.  There  are  practically  as  many 
different  laws  as  there  are  different  states.  States  like  Massa- 
chusetts, New  York,  and  Ohio  have  elaborate  statutes,  while 
several  of  the  Southern  states  have  inadequate  laws  which 
are  often  pooriy  enforced.  The  most  important  regulative 
measures  in  regard  to  the  employment  of  children  are  the 
establishment  of  an  age  limit  below  which  children  may  not 
lawfully  be  employed,  limitation  of  the  number  of  working 
hours  per  day  or  per  week,  prohibition  of  night  work,  issuance 
of  working  papers,  compulsory  education,  and  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  law.  The  minimum  age  of  lawful  employment 
varies,  with  some  exceptions,  from  twelve  to  fourteen  years. 


CHILD  LABOR 


461 


The  majority  of  the  states  have  fixed  upon  fourteen  years  as 
the  minimum  age  in  the  ordinary  factory  and  mercantile 
industries.  Each  state  usually  classifies  employments  and 
fixes  more  than  one  minimum  age.  As  a  rule  states  fixing 
fourteen  years  as  a  minimum  in  ordinary  industries  require 
each  wage  earner  between  fourteen  and  sixteen  years  of  age 
to  obtain  a  working  paper  or  certificate  certifying  that  the 
child  has  completed  a  required  amount  of  schooling,  and  is  in 
sound  health  and  physically  able  to  do  the  work  required 
in  the  employments  in  which  such  a  child  may  legally  be 
employed.  In  occupations  dangerous  to  life,  limb,  health 
or  morals  the  minimum  age  limit  is  usually  placed  higher. 
Ohio  fixes  the  minimum  in  factories  and  stores  at  fifteen  years 
for  boys  and  sixteen  years  for  girls.  In  factories,  Montana's 
minimum  is  sixteen  years;  with  some  exceptions,  South 
Dakota  and  Texas  place  the  minimum  in  factories  at  fifteen 
years.  Michigan  and  California  assign  fifteen  years  as  the 
minimum  in  factories  and  stores  during  the  school  year. 
New  Mexico  has  no  provision  except  one  prohibiting  children 
under  fourteen  years  of  age  from  working  in  mines.  Utah 
and  Wyoming  only  prohibit  child  labor  in  mines  and  other 
dangerous  occupations.  Compulsory  school-attendance  laws 
are,  however,  on  the  statute  books  of  these  three  backward 
states.  Georgia,  Mississippi,  North  Carolina  and  South 
Carolina  have  no  minimum  age  for  employment  in  stores. 
Florida  fixes  a  minimum  of  twelve  years  in  stores  and  fourteen 
years  in  factories.  North  Carolina,  with  certain  exceptions, 
makes  thirteen  years  the  minimum  age  for  factory  work. 
The  Mississippi  law  specifies  twelve  years  for  boys  and 
fourteen  for  girls  in  factories  and  canneries. 

Arkansas,  Illinois,  Minnesota,  Missouri,  North  Dakota 
and  Oregon  limit  the  working  hours  for  children  under  sixteen 
years  of  age  to  eight  per  day  and  forty-eight  per  week,  *4n 
all    gainful    occuparions";     Arizona,     California,     Nevada, 


I 


Mil 


■ 


462    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

Oklahoma,    West   Virginia,   and    Wisconsin,   in   all  gainful 
occupations  except  agricultural  pursuits  and  domestic  service; 
the  District  of  Columbia,  Kansas,  Kentucky,  Massachusetts, 
Nebraska,  New  Jersey,  Ohio  and  Washington,  in  factories 
and  stores.    In   1920,  Alabama  also  passed  an  eight-hour 
law  for  children.    On  the  other  hand,  Georgia,  Louisiana, 
New  Mexico,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  South  Dakota 
and  Virginia  permit  children  to  work  ten  or  more  hours  per 
day.    Twenty-four    states   and    the    District    of    Columbia 
prohibit  night  work  for  children  under  sixteen  years  of  age.^ 
The  prohibited  hours  range  from  6  to  10  p.m.  to  5  to  7  a.m. 
Seventeen  more  states  have  similar  laws,  but  these  states 
exempt  certain  occupations  from  the  provisions  of  the  law. 
Georgia  prohibits  the  night  work  of  children  under  fourteen 
and  one-half  years  of  age,  in  factories.     Nevada,  New  Mexico, 
South  Dakota,  Texas,  Utah  and  Wyoming  have  no  laws  pro- 
hibiting night  work  for  children  under  sixteen  years  of  age. 
A  desirable  provision  which  is  inserted  in  the  laws  of  several 
states  requires  the  employer  to  post  in  a  conspicuous  place 
in  every  room  where  children  are  employed,  a  printed  notice 
stating  the  length  of  their  working  day,  the  hours  of  stopping 
and  commencing  work,  and  the  period  allowed  for  meals. 

Unless  some  proof  of  age  is  required  of  children  manifestly 
near  the  age  limit,  no  child  labor  law  is  enforceable.  As  a 
rule,  in  states  in  which  children  under  sixteen  years  of  age 
are  allowed  to  work,  before  employment  of  such  children  is 
legal  a  permit  to  work  must  be  issued.  The  officer  issuing 
such  permits  should  be  the  superintendent  of  schools  or  some 
person  designated  by  him,  the  health  authorities  or  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  state  department  of  labor.  The  method  of 
allowing  notary  publics  to  issue  permits  to  work  is  inadequate 
and  vicious.  The  permit  should  contain  the  name,  age, 
place  of  birth,  and  a  description  of  the  child.  The  permit 
*  Except,  in  some  states,  in  agricultural  pursuits  and  domestic  service. 


^ 


CHILD  LABOR 


463 


shall  not  be  issued  (i)  until  the  issuing  officer  has  examined 
the  school  report  of  the  child,  which  must  indicate  that  the 
child  is  able  to  read,  write,  and  perform  simple  operations 
in  arithmetic,  (2)  until  he  has  also  received  and  examined 
a  passport  or  some  duly  attested  transcript  of  the  record 
of  birth  or,  in  the  absence  of  such  proof,  the  affidavit  of  the 
parent  accompanied  by  the  certificate  of  the  doctor  or  midwife 
attending  at  the  birth  of  the  child,  and  (3)  until  the  issuing 
officer  is  satisfied  that  the  child  is  in  good  health  and  physi- 
cally able  to  perform  the  work  which  he  intends  to  do,  and 
that  the  services  of  the  child  are  necessary  to  the  support  of 
itself  or  parents.     This  permit  must  be  kept  on  file  by  the 
employer,  and,  in  case  the  child  terminates  his  employment, 
should  be  promptly  returned   to  the  issuing  authority.     It 
may  be  desirable,  as  in  Michigan,  to  issue  permits  to  work 
during  vacation  without  a  school  certificate.    One  of   the 
most  effective  aids  in  the  enforcement  of  child  labor  legis- 
lation is  a  compulsory  education  law  requiring  the  attendance 
for  thirty-six  to  forty  weeks  each  year  of  all  children  to  the 
age  of  fourteen  years,  and  until  sixteen  if  they  have  not  com- 
pleted the  equivalent  of  the  work  in  the  first  eight  grades 
of  the  public  schools.     During  the  summer  vacation  manv 
children    are    employed    in    factories.     *' Nothing    could    be 
worse  for  the  physique  of  the  school  child  than  being  com- 
pelled to  work  during  the  summer;   and  the  development  of 
vacation  school  and  vacation  camp  alone  seems  to  promise 
a  satisfactory  solution  of  the  problem  of  the  vacation  of  the 
city  child  of  the  working  class."     Nevertheless,  the  factory 
work  may  be  more  desirable  for  children  than  street  fife; 
but  other  alternatives  should  be  offered  each  and  every  child. 
Through  vacation  schools  and  directed  play,  the  long  summer 
vacation  may  be  made  a  period  of  uplift  instead  of  a  season 
of  physical  and  moral  danger. 

Child  labor  legislation  which  makes  no  adequate  provision 


t 
ft' '    ^ 


p  I 


li 


464     HISTORY   AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

for  inspection  is  practically  inoperative.  In  the  great  major- 
ity of  the  states  the  burden  of  inspection  and  enforcement 
of  the  law  is  placed  upon  the  Department  of  Labor  and  a 
corps  of  factory  inspectors.  An  effective  and  adequate 
child  labor  law  should  at  least  include  the  following  pro- 
visions: Labor  should  be  prohibited  in  all  gainful  occupations 
for  all  children  under  fourteen  years  of  age,  for  all  children 
under  sixteen  years  of  age  who  are  not  at  least  five  feet  in 
height  and  who  do  not  weigh  at  least  eighty  pounds,  for  all 
children  under  sixteen  years  of  age  who  cannot  read  and 
write  the  English  language,  for  all  children  under  sixteen 
years  of  age  between  the  hours  of  5  p.m.  and  8  a.m.  or  longer 
than  eight  hours  per  day  or  forty-eight  hours  per  week,  and 
for  all  children  in  certain  specified  occupations  dangerous 
to  life,  limb,  health,  or  morals;  the  requirement  of  the  is- 
suance of  working  papers  to  all  wage-earning  children  under 
sixteen  years  of  age;  the  officials  charged  with  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  law  should  devote  their  entire  time  to  the  work; 
inspection  should  be  thorough  and  frequent;  prompt  prose- 
cution for  violations  of  the  law;  annual  reports  should  be 
published.  A  good  compulsory  school  law  should  also  be 
upon  the  statute  books;  and  provisions  should  be  made  for 
industrial  education,  directed  play,  and  vacation  schools. 
Provisions  for  collecting  accurate  vital  statistics,  especially 
of  birth  records,  are  almost  essential  to  the  adequate  enforce- 
ment of  child  labor  legislation.  The  establishment  of  schol- 
arships for  children  of  families  in  poverty  would  be  a  valuable 
auxiliary.  The  community  can  well  afiford  to  pay  the  child 
of  a  poor  widow,  or  of  disabled  parents,  to  go  to  school. 

National  Regulation.  An  excellent  child  labor  law  in  one 
state  may  conceivably  act  as  a  check  upon  its  industrial  de- 
velopment. Certain  industries  may  temporarily  suffer  in 
competition  with  those  from  other  states  having  lax  or  no  child 
labor  laws  upon  their  statute  books.     The  significance  of  this 


CHILD   LABOR 


465 


^1 


point  has  undoubtedly  been  over-emphasized  by  the  opponents 
of  child  labor  legislation;  but  uniformity  in  labor  legislation 
as  in  regard  to  coinage,  weights  and  measures,  and  bankruptcy 
is  very  desirable.  National  regulation  would  be  one  way  of 
bringing  about  uniformity.  The  other  method  is  the  slow 
process  of  publicity,  education,  and  agitation  in  every  state  in 
the  union;  and  there  is  a  temptation  on  the  part  of  certain 
states  to  maintain  lax  child  labor  laws  as  well  as  lax  corpora- 
tion laws.  A  national  ''child  labor  law  virtually  establishes 
a  legal  tender  in  labor;  it  says  that  children  under  a  certain 
age  are  no  longer  to  be  accepted  as  a  tender  in  the  performance 
of  labor,  just  as  a  gold  dollar  of  less  than  25.8  grains  in  weight 
is  no  longer  legal  tender  in  payment  of  a  debt.  A  uniform 
rule  throughout  the  United  States  makes  it  impossible  for  a 
state  to  profit  by  the  debasement  of  its  population,  just  as 
legal  tender  laws  make  it  impossible  for  a  state  to  profit  by 
the  debasement  of  its  coinage."  ^  The  prevention  of  the 
"debasement"  of  the  children  of  the  nation  is  an  economic 
measure  of  national  import.  The  passage  of  immigration 
laws  which  sift  out  the  weak  and  defective  will  be  of  little 
value  if  children  are  dwarfed  and  weakened  in  our  factories, 
mines,  and  stores.  The  federal  government  can  stimulate 
industry  by  means  of  protective  tariffs  and  patent  laws,  yet 
it  has  been  powerless  to  remedy  many  of  the  industrial  evils, 
includmg  child  labor,  which  grow  out  of  industrial  progress. 

Germany  and  Switzerland,  both  having  governments  of  the 
federal  type,  give  the  national  governments  the  right  to 
legislate  upon  matters  relating  to  the  conditions  of  labor.  The 
demand  that  this  matter  be  left  solely  to  the  states  is  a  sur- 
vival of  the  sectional  jealousy  and  particularism  which  wa? 
so  prominent  at  the  time  the  federal  constitution  was  adopted. 

The  federal  constitution  does  not  specifically  give  Congress 

*  Farnam,  Proceedings  of  the  Child  Labor  Conference,  Hartford,  Dec.  4,  1Q08, 
PP-  34-35- 


t 


'  .  I 


i 


n 


It 


{.' 


466    HISTORY   AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

the  power  to  directly  regulate  child  labor.  Three  methods 
have  been  proposed  by  means  of  which  federal  intervention 
may  be  obtained.  The  federal  government  might  be  given 
concurrent  power  with  the  states  in  regard  to  child  labor 
legislation.  Such  an  amendment  would  be  difficult  to  obtain; 
but  it  would  not  be  out  of  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the 
Constitution,  which  placed  the  coinage,  the  postal  system,  and 
interstate  commerce  under  the  control  of  the  federal  gov- 
ernment. In  the  second  place,  it  has  been  proposed  to  indi- 
rectly legislate  against  child  labor  through  the  power  which 
Congress  has  over  interstate  commerce.  Senator  Beveridge 
was  sponsor  for  a  bill  passed  by  the  Senate,  not  voted  upon 
by  the  House,  m  the  winter  of  191 1,  which  proposed  to  pro- 
hibit the  transportation  by  carriers  of  interstate  commerce 
of  the  products  of  mines  and  factories  employing  child  labor. 
The  aim  of  the  bill  was  to  allow  Congress  indirectly  to  regu- 
late a  matter  over  which  it  has  no  direct  power  under  the 
provisions  of  the  Constitution.  Senator- Beveridge  argued, 
that  since  Congress  has  the  power  to  prohibit  the  transporta- 
tion in  interstate  commerce  of  lottery  tickets,  obscene  liter- 
ature, uninspected  cattle,  loose  hay  in  vessels,  convict-made 
goods,  and  gold  and  silver  goods  bearing  the  mark  **U.  S. 
assay,"  it  also  has  the  power  to  prohibit  the  transportation 
in  interstate  commerce  of  child-made  goods.  Finally  a 
Federal  Child  Labor  Act  modeled  after  the  Beveridge  bill, 
was  passed  by  Congress  in  191 6  and  went  into  effect  Septem- 
ber I,  1917.  This  act  prohibited  the  shipment  in  foreign 
and  interstate  commerce  of  goods  produced  in  factories  and 
canneries  which,  within  thirty  days  prior  to  their  removal, 
had  employed  children  under  fourteen  years  of  age,  or  children 
between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and  sixteen  for  more  than 
eight  hours  per  day  or  six  days  per  week,  or  between  the 
hours  of  7  P.M.  and  6  a.m.  It  also  placed  the  same  prohibition 
upon  the  products  of  quarries  and  mines  employing  children 


CHILD  LABOR 


467 


under  sixteen  years  of  age.  This  act  was  declared  uncon- 
stitutional by  the  federal  Supreme  Court  in  June,  19 18. 
Four  of  the  nine  judges  dissented.  This  law,  while  enforced, 
did  not  affect  the  working  conditions  of  the  great  mass  of 
child  toilers  in  agricultural  pursuits,  in  stores,  in  the  street 
trades  or  in  any  industries  except  manufacturing  and  mining. 

After  the  act  of  19 16  was  declared  unconstitutional  a  third 
plan  was  utilized.  The  taxing  power  of  the  federal  govern- 
ment was  invoked.  The  revenue  act  of  19 18,  approved 
February  24,  19 19,  provided  for  an  excise  tax  on  the  employ- 
ment of  child  labor.  This  tax  measure  recited  the  same 
provisions  as  the  federal  child  labor  act  of  19 16;  but  instead 
of  prohibiting  the  receipt  of  the  products  of  such  establish- 
ments in  foreign  or  interstate  commerce,  the  new  act  placed 
an  excise  tax  of  ten  per  cent  upon  the  annual  net  profits  of 
mines  and  manufacturing  establishments  employing  children. 
The  provisions  of  this  act  are  being  enforced  by  the  Com- 
missioner of  Internal  Revenue. 

The  Federal  Children's  Bureau  was  established  by  an  act 
passed  April  9,  191 2.  The  Bureau  is  in  the  Department  of 
Labor.  Its  purpose  is  to  investigate  and  report  upon  all 
matters  pertaining  to  child  life  and  the  welfare  of  children. 
The  Bureau  provides  exact  data  in  regard  to  child  life  and 
gives  publicity  to  such  material.  It  has  been  likened  to 
*'a  searchlight  which  shows  up  the  enemy  but  does  not  hit 
him";  nevertheless,  the  work  of  the  Bureau  does  furnish 
ammunition  which  will  aid  states  and  the  federal  government 
in  "hitting  the  enemy."  One  of  the  first  pieces  of  work 
performed  by  the  Bureau  was  a  study  of  infant  mortality. 
The  statistics  gathered  indicated  a  close  connection  between 
low  wages  and  a  high  death  rate  among  the  children  in  the 
families  of  the  poorly  paid  workers.  In  1917,  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  federal  child  labor  law  was  placed  in  the  charge 
of  the  Children's  Bureau.    The  Bureau  has  made  careful 


I' 

lit*. 


I 


M  $ 


I 


ft 


l! 


li 


468    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

studies  of  defective,  delinquent  and  dependent  children, 
also  of  the  welfare  of  mothers  in  isolated  rural  communities. 
The  Children's  Year  Campaign  to  reduce  infant  mortality 
and  a  National  Baby  Week  were  attempts  to  popularize 
the  knowledge  gained  through  investigation. 

The  National  Child  Labor  Committee.  The  National  Child 
Labor  Committee  was  organized  in  1904  and  incorporated  in 
1907.  Its  purpose  is  ''to  investigate  and  report  the  facts 
concerning  child  labor;  to  raise  the  standard  of  public  opinion 
and  parental  responsibility  with  respect  to  the  employment 
of  children;  to  assist  in  protecting  children  by  suitable  legis- 
lation against  premature  and  otherwise  injurious  employment, 
and  thus  to  aid  in  securing  for  them  an  opportunity  for  ele- 
mentary education  and  physical  development  sufficient  for 
the  demands  of  citizenship  and  the  requirements  of  industrial 
efficiency."  The  committee  is  supported  by  voluntary  sub- 
scriptions. An  annual  meeting  is  held,  and  many  pamphlets 
are  issued  for  distribution. 

Viewpoints,  In  considering  the  good  and  evil  effects  of 
child  labor  in  factories,  mines,  and  other  industries  where  the 
work  of  children  is  subdivided  and  specialized,  several  view- 
points may  be  taken,  (a)  The  child's  viewpoint.  Each  and 
every  child  has  a  right  to  childhood;  each  child  may  rightfully 
demand  opportunity  for  normal  development.  Normal  de- 
velopment requires  the  training  of  the  hand  and  eye;  but  such 
training  is  made  impossible  by  long-continued  routine  work 
in  a  factory  without  proper  opportunity  to  play,  to  receive 
an  education  and  to  have  a  variety  of  experiences.  As  prog- 
ress continues,  the  normal  length  of  childhood  increases. 
Little  children  who  are  wage  earners  in  the  modem  industrial 
world  rarely  become  efficient  adult  workers,  or  develop  nor- 
mally. Employers  sometimes  remark  that  many  foreign 
children  are  incapable  of  education;  but  the  experience  of 
many  teachers  shows  that  this  statement  is  untrue.    The 


CHILD   LABOR 


469 


normal  children  of  foreign  parents  are  capable  of  receiving 
an  education  in  our  public  schools,  (b)  The  family's  view- 
point. It  is  frequently  urged  that  the  poor  family  needs  the 
earnings  of  the  children  of  the  family.  A  frequent  and  spe- 
cious plea  is  that  the  prohibition  of  child  labor  will  increase 
the  hardships  of  many  families.  Here  is  the  fertile  field  of 
the  ''special  case.'^  Many  families  in  which  there  are  small 
children  need  larger  incomes;  but  the  future  of  the  child 
should  not  be  sacrificed.  Society  certainly  should  cope  with 
the  problem  in  some  more  efficient  and  humane  manner. 
The  scholarship  plan,  according  to  which  children  are  paid 
for  attending  school  in  cases  where  additional  income  seems 
essential,  is  a  humane  and  desirable  alternative  for  wage 
earning  in  the  factory.  Mrs.  Oilman  in  vigorous  terms 
declares  that  the  right  of  the  family  is  not  paramount  in 
comparison  to  the  rights  of  the  child.  "It  is  not  right  to 
set  the  children  to  providing  bread  for  the  family.  It  is  as 
abnormal  a  proposition  as  it  would  be  to  see  a  hen  eat  her 
own  chickens  or  eggs."  If  the  family  is  dependent,  surely 
the  nation,  not  the  child,  should  bear  the  burden. 

(c)  Moral  evils  resulting  from  child  labor.  The  child 
thrust  prematurely  into  the  factory,  store,  or  mine  is  dwarfed 
in  his  moral  development.  The  constant  association  with 
adults  and  the  equally  constant  touch  with  the  practical, 
bread-and-butter  side  of  life  tend  to  develop  prematurely  the 
adult  view  of  life.  The  youthful  wage  earner  becomes  a  man 
while,  for  normal  development,  he  should  still  be  a  child. 
The  tendency  in  the  home  of  wage-earning  children  is  toward 
relaxation  of  parental  discipline.  The  child  wage  earner  often 
loses  his  respect  for  parental  authority.  He  feels  that  his  abil- 
ity to  earn  money  places  him  in  a  position  of  independence 
of  parental  guidance.  The  child  worker  in  the  plastic  adoles- 
cent period  often  hears  much  foul  language,  and  is  frequently 
brought  into  touch  with  various  immoral  influences.     Fac- 


iJ 


i 


s 


I 


r.  ?! ! 


ii  f\ 


m 


*470    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

tory  conditions  are  often  such  that  the  child  worker  is  in 
great  danger  of  moral  contamination.  One  of  the  worst  forms 
of  child  labor  in  this  regard  is  the  messenger  service.  Mrs. 
Florence  Kelley  has  carefully  investigated  the  conditions  in 
this  service.  **  There  is  not,  I  believe,"  writes  Mrs.  Kelley, 
"one  messenger  boy  three  months  in  the  service  of  the  West- 
ern Union,  American  District  Telegraph,  Postal,  or  any  gen- 
eral local  telegraph  or  messenger  service,  who  fails  to  learn 
everything  known  to  any  criminal  in  the  community  in  which 
he  lives.  .  .  .  The  temptations  which  beset  them  are  so 
cruel  and  so  pitiless,  so  shocking,  that  they  can  neither  be 
painted  nor  told."  On  the  other  hand,  the  writer  heard  a 
representative  of  one  of  the  telegraph  companies  declare  in 
eloquent  terms  before  a  committee  of  the  State  Senate  of 
Michigan  that  such  work  was  almost  ideal  for  boys.  While 
in  the  service  of  his  company  the  boys  were  given  exercise  in 
the  open  air  and  were  kept  from  the  dangers  involved  in 
playing  upon  the  city  streets.  Child  labor  often  leads  to 
gross  immorality.  The  monotony  of  his  life  leads  to  seek 
the  forms  of  amusement  which  excite  and  degrade.  Venereal 
diseases  are  often  unusually  prevalent  among  working  chil- 
dren in  factory  towns.^ 

(d)  The  racial  viewpoint.  The  most  important  products 
of  any  nation  are  its  boys  and  girls.  The  conservation  of 
human  resources  is  of  even  greater  importance  than  is  that 
of  the  conservation  of  the  natural  resources.  National  prog- 
ress and  racial  uplift  require  that  the  individuals  of  the  rising 
generation  be  trained  and  developed  so  as  to  become  worthy 
successors  of  today's  men  and  women  of  action.  The  life, 
health,  vigor,  and  training  of  each  and  every  young  person 
is  a  matter  of  great  importance  to  the  nation.  Child  labor 
laws  are  forms  of  social  insurance.  If  children  are  over- 
worked and  underfed,  if  they  are  given  inadequate  oppor- 

*  Spargo,  The  Bitter  Cry  oj  the  Children,  pp.  1 81-190. 


CHILD  LABOR 


471 


tunity  for  healthful  play  and  enjoyment,  if  children  are 
forced  to  become  wage  earners  in  early  youth,  the  inevitable 
fruitage  will  be  stunted,  inefficient,  and  apathetic  men  and 
women.  England  is  today  paying  the  penalty  for  grinding  out 
young  lives  in  her  mines  and  factories.  The  warriors  who 
charged  with  the  Light  Brigade,  or  who  stopped  the  hosts 
of  Napoleon  at  Waterloo  have  gone,  and  their  places  cannot 
be  filled  by  the  prematurely  aged  toilers  in  shop  and  mine. 

(e)  The  educational  viewpoint.  A  child  without  a  normal 
childhood  becomes  the  inefficient  or  the  delinquent  adult,  if, 
indeed,  adult  Kfe  is  reached.  The  American  people  are  main- 
taining a  costly  educational  plant  —  buildings,  equipment, 
teachers,  manual  traim'ng,  playgrounds;  but  only  about  one 
in  every  eight  children  are  found  in  the  schoolroom  after  their 
fifteenth  birthday.  Are  we  as  a  nation  heartily  in  favor  of 
a  free  school  system  for  all  children?  To  the  candid  student 
of  statistics  of  school  attendance  it  seems  doubtful.  If  the 
American  people  are  desirous  of  giving  the  benefits  of  educa- 
tion to  each  and  every  child,  our  efforts  to  do  so  are  indeed 
feeble.  If  education,  including  as  it  should  play,  physical 
culture,  and  manual  or  industrial  training,  makes  for  good 
citizenship  and  efficient  workmanship,  the  nation  ought  to 
pass  and  enforce  such  laws  as  will  give  to  each  and  every  child 
an  opportunity  to  be  more  than  an  anemic,  half -exhausted 
piece  of  human  mechanism.  But  coercive  legislation  keeping 
the  child  out  of  the  factory  should  be  balanced  by  increased 
emphasis  upon  industrial  training  in  the  public  schools    •  ^ 

(/)  The  economic  effect  of  child  labor.  The  introduction 
of  children  into  industry  causes  the  displacement  of  adult 
workers,  increases  the  minuteness  of  the  subdivision  of  labor, 
and  delays  the  introduction  of  labor-saving  devices.  The 
effect  is  almost  identical  to  that  caused  by  the  immigration 
of  workers  living  on  a  low  standard  of  living.  The  difficulties 
in  both  cases  are  caused  by  the  presence  of  a  supply  of  ''cheap 


i  f'i  \ 


ri 


i 


I 


472     HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

labor."  The  supply  of  child  labor  tends  to  reduce  the  wages 
of  adult  workers  in  the  industries  where  children  are  intro- 
duced. The  earnings  of  the  entire  family  in  industries 
wHere  men,  women,  and  children  are  employed  are  no  higher 
than  that  of  the  head  of  the  household  m  mdustries  where 
only  the  men  are  employed/  The  use  of  child  labor  —  cheap 
labor  —  enables  certain  parasitic  or  sweated  industries  to 
continue  m  operation;  and  it  enables  certain  families  to  be 
self-supporting.  The  percentage  of  child  workers  injured  in 
factories  is  higher  than  the  percentage  of  adult  factory  workers 

injured. 

The  more  remote  eflfects  of  child  labor  are  still  more  im- 
portant than  the  immediate  effects  which  were  briefly  con- 
sidered in  the  preceding  paragraph.  From  a  purely  economic 
point  of  view,  casting  aside  all  moral,  ethical,  or  humanitarian 
arguments,  child  labor  is  a  waste  to  the  nation.  A  normal 
youth  eighteen  years  of  age  ought  to  have  forty-five  or  fifty 
years  of  useful  productive  work  ahead  of  him.  Proper  diet, 
proper  housmg  facilities,  a  fair  amount  of  recreation,  and 
absence  of  unhealthful  occupation  and  dissipation  will  give 
to  the  average  normal  and  well-developed  youth  such  a 
prospect;  but  premature  child  labor  takes  it  away.  The 
eflaciency  and  the  length  of  the  working  life  of  the  average 
child  worker  in  factories,  stores,  and  mines  is  less  than  that 
of  the  average  individual  who  has  not  been  forced  to  become 
a  breadwinner  before  the  age  of  sixteen  or  eighteen  years. 
Not  only  is  the  productive  efficiency  of  the  average  wage 
earner  reduced  because  of  the  prevalence  of  child  labor,  but 
the  expense  of  caring  for  dependents,  vagrants,  and  delin- 
quents is  increased.  The  national  income  is  diminished 
and  the  national  expenditures  increased.  The  child-employ- 
ing industries  are  parasitic.    They  reduce   the  number  of 

»  American  Ecommic  Association  Publications.  Vol.  5: 170.  See  also Gunton, 
Wealth  and  Progress,  p.  171. 


CHILD   LABOR 


473 


recruits  for  other  industries;  and  they  lower  the  average 
efficiency  of  the  mass  of  workers.  By  lowering  the  efiiciency 
and  by  adversely  affecting  the  stamina  of  the  young,  child 
labor  tends  to  reduce  the  future  standard  of  living  of  the 
workers  of  the  nation. 

(g)  Organized  labor's  viewpoint.  Organized  labor  is  op- 
posed to  the  use  of  child  labor  because  it  tends  to  reduce 
wages  and  to  cause  the  displacement  of  adult  workers. 
While  the  unionist  often  places  the  humanitarian  argument 
in  the  foreground,  the  real  reason  for  the  firm  attitude  of 
organized  labor  is  selfish.  Child  labor  is  a  menace  to  the 
life  and  effectiveness  of  the  labor  union.  The  individual 
workingman  is  often  a  prey  to  conflicting  interests  in  regard 
to  the  early  employment  of  his  own  children;  but  his  union 
almost  invariably  opposes  child  labor.  The  skilled  glass 
bottle  blowers,  however,  employ  boys  to  carry  bottles  from 
the  molder  to  the  aimealing  oven;  and  their  union  has  not 
been  active  in  attempting  to  put  an  end  to  this  practice. 
These  wretched  "blowers'  dogs"  are  the  "victims  alike  of  the 
manufacturers  and  the  skilled  workers."  In  this  industry 
the  skilled  workers  are  not  menaced  by  the  child  laborer,  and 
consequently,  child  labor  in  the  glass  industry  is  not  con- 
sidered by  them  to  be  a  serious  evil.  "In  some  factories," 
writes  Mrs.  Florence  Kelley,  "the  blowers  are  required  to 
furnish  boys;  and  as  they  do  not  sacrifice  their  sons  (whom 
they  introduce  into  the  trade  as  apprentices,  if  at  all)  they 
are  continually  searching  for  available  sources  of  supply.'* 
Evidently,  altruistic  motives  alone  do  not  lead  labor  organ- 
izations to  oppose  child  labor. 

Opposition  to  the  Prohibition  of  Child  Labor.  In  the  face  of 
so  many  obvious  economic,  moral,  and  racial  disadvantages, 
the  continued  prevalence  of  child  labor  indicates  the  existence 
of  powerful  forces  favorable  to  its  utilization.  The  disad- 
vantages either  affect  society  as  a  whole  or  are  relatively 


u 


474    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

remote  in  incidence.  Child  labor  legislation  is  coercive;  and 
compulsion  must  be  used  to  insure  enforcement.  This  legis- 
lation operates  against  certain  powerful  direct  and  personal 
economic  motives.  The  advantages  to  be  derived  from  child 
labor  seem  immediate  and  personal,  (a)  The  manufacturers 
desire  to  hire  cheap  labor.  In  the  long  run  it  may  not  be 
difficult  to  prove  that  "cheap"  labor  is  "dear"  labor,  and 
in  certain  industries  employers  are  refusing  to  hire  children 
under  sixteen  years  of  age  because  of  their  inefficiency  and 
carelessness;  but  in  a  large  number  of  important  industries 
the  opportunity  to  hire  children  at  low  wages  helps  to  swell 
the  dividends  paid  this  year  to  the  anxious  stockholders. 
(b)  Many  parents  are  desirous  of  obtaining  income  from  the 
work  of  their  children.  The  family  may  be  in  want  or  the 
head  of  the  family  may  be  indolent  or  avaricious.  In  either 
case  the  immediate  opportunity  of  increasing  the  family 
income  overbalances  any  fear  of  the  possible  remote  injurious 
effects  of  such  labor  upon  the  child,  (c)  The  child  himself 
is  anxious  to  earn  money.  He  wishes  to  have  money  of  his 
own  to  spend;  and  he  too  often  sees  little  that  is  of  prac- 
tical value  in  the  education  offered  by  the  public  school. 
He  asserts  that  there  is  "nothing  domg"  in  school,  and  he 
craves  for  activity.  The  desire  for  spending  money  today 
bulks  larger  than  any  remote  and  intangible  disadvan- 
tageous effect  upon  the  earning  capacity.  Many  backward 
and  stupid  children  leave  school  early  in  life  because  they 
are  ashamed  to  stay  in  a  class  with  children  younger  than 
themselves. 

The  forces  opposing  child  labor  legislation  are  powerful. 
Coercive  legislation  is  always  difficult  of  enforcement.  Scien- 
tific legislation  —  legislation  which  follows  the  route  of  least 
social  resistance  —  will  work  along  other  lines.  A  law  pro- 
hibiting child  labor  may  be  extremely  desirable;  but  if  the 
income  of  the  family  is  so  meager  that  proper  subsistence 


CHILD  LABOR 


475 


cannot  be  provided  for  the  members  of  the  family,  that 
family  is  imperiled,  and  the  future  of  the  children  endangered. 
Mere  coercive  legislation  which  restrains  children  from  earn- 
ing wages  is  only  a  palliative;  it  brushes  the  surface.  Indeed, 
sometimes  it  is  a  sedative  which  prevents  further  study  and 
investigation.  Questions  pertaining  to  wages,  employment, 
sanitary  home  and  working  conditions,  educational  facilities, 
private  property,  and  taxation  are  more  fundamental.  The 
prohibition  of  child  labor  in  factories,  stores,  and  mines  is 
only  one  link  in  a  long  chain  of  measures  making  for  social 
betterment.  The  efficiency  of  a  child  labor  law  depends 
upon  the  passage  of  other  laws  and  regulations. 

Free  education  and  free  text-books  reduce  the  direct  ex- 
penses of  attending  school,  and  consequently  many  children 
continue  in  school  who  would  drop  out  if  the  parents  were 
forced  to  pay  for  tuition  and  text-books.  Paying  children  to 
go  to  school  is  the  next  step.  Such  a  measure  would  directly 
attack  the  child  labor  evil.  The  motives  (b)  and  (c)  would 
no  longer  act  effectively  to  draw  children  out  of  the  school- 
room and  into  the  factory.  Such  legislation  will  be  called 
paternalism;  but  the  free  school  system  is  paternalistic. 
Paying  children  to  go  to  school  is  a  form  of  scientific  child 
labor  legislation.  It  removes  or  minimizes  the  force  of  two 
of  the  three  powerful  motives  which  lead  children  to  become 
wage  earners.  Coercive  legislation  would  be  less  necessary 
and  less  difficult  of  enforcement  if  children  were  paid  to 
attend  school. 

Indications  of  a  movement  toward  a  system  of  paying 
children  to  go  to  school  are  not  lacking.  As  has  been  the 
case  in  many  other  reform  movements,  the  first  steps  were 
taken  by  certain  private  associations.  Over  a  decade  ago 
the  New  York  Child  Labor  Committee  devoted  a  portion 
of  its  funds  toward  the  payment  of  scholarships.  In  1908, 
it   expended   approximately   $4,000   for   scholarships.    The 


I- 


Is 


476    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

Inter-Church    Child   Labor    Committee   of    Grand    Rapids 

before  the  year  191 1  also  maintained  several  scholarships. 

Under  the  laws  of  the  States  of  Ohio  and  Michigan  boards 

of  education  are  permitted  to  furnish  such  aid.    Acting  under 

the  provisions  of  these  laws,  boards  of  education  may  grant 

*' scholarships"    to    certain    children;     or,    in    other    words, 

children  in  indigent  families  may,  in  these  two  states,  be  paid 

to  attend  school.     In  Switzerland,  children  of  widows  receive 

at  the  end  of  each  successful  week  in  school  a  certain  sum 

of  money  paid  out  of  a  scholarship  fund  maintained  by  the 

canton.     This  payment  is  not  considered  to  be  an  act  of 

charity.     Mothers'  pension  laws  now  on  the  statute  books 

of  approximately  two-thirds  of  our  states,  may  be  in  effect 

scholarship  laws.    Under  these  acts  a  widowed  or  deserted 

mother  is  granted  such  aid  as  is  necessary  for  her  to  maintain 

a  home  for  her  children  and  to  send  them  to  school.     For 

example,  in  the  State  of  Missouri  a  mothers'  pension  may  be 

granted  to  women  with  children  under  sixteen  years  of  age, 

whose  husbands  are  dead  or  unable  to  support  them.    It  is 

administered  by  County  Boards  of  Child  Welfare.    In  some 

states,  a  mother  whose  husband  has  deserted  the  family  may 

receive  a  mothers'  pension. 

The  improvement  of  our  educational  facilities  will  go  far 
toward  reducing  the  amount  of  child  labor.  More  industrial 
training  and  domestic  science  are  needed  in  the  schools.  The 
removal  of  the  children  from  the  factories  is  merely  negative 
legislation;  improvement  of  the  schools  and  the  introduction 
of  vocational  education  are  of  positive  value.  More  attention 
should  be  paid  to  physical  training  and  to  play  and  amuse- 
ments by  our  school  authorities.  An  editor  of  a  daily  paper 
has  put  the  matter  in  a  nutshell:  "It  is  the  essence  of  folly 
and  cruelty  to  pitch  the  children  taken  from  the  factory  and 
workshop  regardless  into  the  dilettante,  fad-oppressed  atmos- 
phere of  the  ordinary  schoolroom.    Save  the  children  from 


CHILD  LABOR 


477 


slavery,  but  see  where  they  are  put  when  saved.  Look 
well  to  the  schools."  It  sometimes  seems  that  in  order  to 
receive  the  best  of  school  training  a  chHd  must  be  abnormal, 
—  truant,  delinquent,  or  defective.  A  recent  writer  asserts 
that  the  American  people  are  placing  a  '^premium  on  ab- 
normality." 


REFERENCES   FOR  FURTHER  READING 

Report  on  Condition  of  Women  and  Child  Wage  Earners  in  the  United 
States,  in  19  volumes.  Prepared  under  the  direction  of  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Labor.  Issued  as  Senate  Document  No.  645,  Sixty-first 
Congress,  second  session. 

A  summary  of  this  Report  is  found  in  Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics,  No.  175. 

Periodicals  and  Pamphlets  issued  by  the  National  Child  Labor  Com- 
mittee are  important  sources  of  information  in  regard  to  the  work  of 
children. 

Spargo,  The  Bitter  Cry  of  the  Children. 

Carlton,  Education  and  Industrial  Evolution,  pp.  294-298. 

Kelley,  Some  Ethical  Gains  through  Legislation,  pp.  3-104. 

Abbott,  "A  Study  of  the  Early  History  of  Child  Labor  in  America," 

American  Journal  of  Sociology.     Vol.14:  15-37. 

Commons,  Documentary  History  of  American  Industrial  Society, 
Vol.  5:  57-66. 

Clopper,  Street  Trades. 

Stratton,  "The  Man  behind  the  Child,"  The  Outlook,  September  20, 
1913- 

"Child-Labor  Ugislation  in  Europe,"  Bulletin  of  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics.    No.  89. 


I 


it    »l 


1 


I;  I 


V  1 


u. 


» : 


CHAPTER  XV 


WOMAN  LABOR 


Woman  Labor  Before  the  Civil  War.  It  is  often  stated  and 
quite  generally  believed  that  the  movement  of  women  into 
industry  is  a  new  and  startling  phenomenon.  Woman,  how- 
ever, was  the  first  industrial  worker;  the  primitive  man  was  a 
hunter  and  a  fighter.  In  1 789  some  French  women  petitioned 
the  king  to  exclude  men  from  the  trades  belonging  to  women, 
"whether  dressmaking,  embroidery,  or  haberdashery.  Let 
them  leave  us,  at  least,  the  needle  and  the  spindle,  and  we 
will  engage  not  to  wield  the  compass  or  the  square."  Miss 
Edith  Abbott,  after  a  painstaking  investigation,  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  women  are  today  relatively  to  men  a  less 
important  factor  in  industrial  life  than  they  were  three- 
quarters  of  a  century  ago.  The  statistics  upon  which  this 
conclusion  was  based  have  been  severely  criticized.  Never- 
theless, it  seems  beyond  controversy  that  the  wives  and 
female  relatives  of  the  head  of  the  family  in  the  wage  earning 
class  were  workers  throughout  the  nineteenth  century.  If 
they  did  not  work  in  household  industry,  they  were  found  in 
the  factories.  The  recent  movement,  which  is  attracting  so 
much  attention,  is  really  a  middle  class  exodus  from  the  home. 
Women  and  children,  as  was  stated  in  the  preceding  chapter, 
constituted  the  bulk  of  the  workers  in  the  first  factories  — 
textile  mills  —  of  the  United  States.  *' Women  formed, 
roughly  speaking,  from  two-thirds  to  three-fourths,  and  in 
some  districts  as  high  as  nine-tenths,  of  the  total  number  of 
operatives  in  the  first  half  of  the  century;  but  this  proportion 

has  been  declining  until,  in  the  twentieth  century,  the  men 

478 


WOMAN  LABOR 


479 


outnumber  the  women." ^  The  preceding  quotation  referred 
to  cotton  factories  only;  in  the  woolen  industry  the  percentage 
of  women  workers  has  undergone  only  a  slight  modification. 
The  largest  percentage  is  less  than  fifty  per  cent.  The  oft- 
quoted  generalization  of  Harriet  Martineau,  that  in  1836  only 
sevtn  occupations  were  open  to  women,  was  probably  based 
upon  insufficient  data.  In  fact,  in  another  connection,  Miss 
Martineau  mentions  an  additional  industry  in  which  women 
were  engaged. 

The  women  operatives  in  the  early  cotton  mills  were  bom 
in  America;  many  of  them  were  the  daughters  of  farmers 
living  in  the  vicinity  of  the  mill  towns.    With  the  influx  of 
immigration  in   the  forties,   the  character  and  nationality 
of  the  women  operatives  rapidly  changed.     The  conditions  in 
the  early  factories  were  frequently  pictured  as  far  superior  to 
those  obtaining  in  a  factory  of  the  present  time.     As  a  matter 
of  fact,  the  working  day  was  long,  the  mills  badly  ventilated 
and  poorly  lighted,  and  the  corporation  boarding  houses  were 
overcrowded  and  insanitary.^    A  delegate  to  the  first  con- 
vention of  the  National  Trades'  Union,  held  in  1834,  declared 
the  cotton  factories  to  be  "the  present  abode  of  wretchedness, 
disease,  and  misery. "     The  Committee  on  Female  Labor  made 
a  long  report  to  the  convention  of  1836.     This  committee 
stated  that  factory  work  injured  the  health  and  lowered  the 
moral  standards  of  the  female  employee,  and  that  "when 
females  are  found  capable  of  performing  duties  generally 
performed  by  men,  as  a  natural  consequence,  from  the  cheap- 
ness of  their  habits  and  dependent  situation,  they  acquire 
complete  control  of  that  particular  branch  of  labor. "     The 
committee    recommended     legislation    prohibiting    women 
"under  a  certain  age"  from  working  in  "large  factories." 
Women  Wage  Earners  and  the  Wages  of  Women.     In  1900 

*  Abbott,  Journal  of  Political  Economy.   Vol.  i6:  607. 

«  Abbott,  Journal  of  Political  Economy.     Vol.  16:  680-692.  Vol.  17: 19-35. 


/ 


f 


480    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

there  were  28,246,384  women  in  the  United  States  over  ten 
years  of  age;  of  this  total,  5,319.397  or  nearly  19  per  cent,  were 
reported  to  be  gainfully  employed.  The  percentages  for  1890, 
1880, and  i87oareapproximately  17.4,  14.7,  and  13 respectively. 
The  percentage  of  women  breadwinners,  sixteen  years  of  age 
and  over,  in  all  occupations  was,  in  1900,  16.6  per  cent.;*  in 
1880,  13.5  per  cent.  In  agricultural  pursuits,  the  percentages 
were  7.4  and  5.9  respectively;  in  professional  service,  34.1  and 
29.3;  in  domestic  and  personal  service,  35.0  and  31.5;  in  trade 
and  transportation,  10. i  and  3.2;  and  in  manufacturing  and 
mechanical  pursuits,  16.9  and  15.4.  The  percentage  of  women 
wage  earners  was  higher  in  each  of  the  five  important  groups 
in  1900  than  in  1880.  The  increase  in  trade  and  trans- 
portation was  particularly  marked.  The  schedules  of  the 
Twelfth  Census  enumerate  303  separate  employments. 
Women  workers  were  found  in  all  except  eight  —  soldiers, 
sailors,  marines,  street-car  drivers,  firemen  of  the  municipal 
fire  departments,  apprentices  and  helpers  to  roofers  and 
slaters,  helpers   to   steam  boiler  makers,   helpers  to  brass 

workers. 

The  tendencies  during  the  decade  1890  to  1900  may  be 
summarized  as  follows:^     First,  the  total  number  of  female 
wage  earners  and  the  number  employed  in  each  of  the  five 
large  occupational  groups  increased  more  rapidly  than  the 
total  population,   the  total  male  population,  or  the  total 
female  population.     Secondly,  occupational  groups  into  which 
middle-class  women  enter  show  a  higher  rate  of  increase  than 
those  into  which  "working-class"  women  chiefly  enter.     In 
the  third  place,  of  the  18  occupations  employing  more  than 
one  per  cent,  of  the  total  number  of  women  wage  earners,  the 
declining  occupations  are  ''  the  traditionally  feminine  ones>  — 
dressmakers,  servants  and  waitresses,  seamstresses  and  tailor- 
esses."     Only  one  of  these  is  a  declining  occupation  for  men. 
1  Abbot  and  Breckinridge,  Jounial  cf  PMlical  Economy.     Vol.  14 :  36. 


WOMAN   LABOR 


481 


In  1910,  approximately  8,000,000  women  were  reported  as 
gainfully  employed,  or  the  number  of  women  workers  in- 
creased over  45  per  cent  during  the  ten-year  period.     The 
number  of  females  over  ten  years  of  age  increased  about 
22  per  cent.     One-fifth  of  all  gainfully  employed  workers  in 
1910  were  females.     In  1919,  it  may  be  estimated  that  ap- 
proximately 11,000,000  women  were  in  gainful  occupations. 
The  number  of  women  over  sixteen  years  of  age  engaged  in 
manufacturing  in  1909  was  reported  to  be  1,290,389,  or  19.5 
per  cent  of  all  wage  earners  engaged  in  the  manufacturing 
plants  of  the  nation.     In  1914,  the  number  was  1,389,366, 
an  increase  of  nearly  eight  per  cent  over  the  number  reported 
for  1909.     These  figures  do  not  include  the  women  in  clerical 
work  or  managerial  positions  in  manufacturing  plants.     If 
all  were  included,  girls  under  sixteen  and  women  in  clerical 
and  managerial  positions,   the  total  number  of  women  in 
manufacturing  industries  in  1914  may  be  estimated  at  over 
1,500,000.     At  the  time  of  the  armistice,  the  number  was 
probably  between  1,750,000  and  2,000,000.     The  number  of 
married  women  gainfully  employed  in  1900  was  769,477,  and, 
in   1910,   1,890,623  —  an  increase  of    123    per  cent  during 
the  decade.     Before  the  War,  four  great  industries,  at  least, 
were  "women's  industries  "— garment  making,  the  manu- 
facture of  knit  goods,  candy  making  and  the  paper  trades. 
The  number  of  women  working  in  canneries,  steam  laundries, 
bakeries  and  glove  factories  increased  greatly  from  1900  to 
1910.    Women  filled  *Hhe  ranks  of  the  unskilled  and  semi- 
skilled in  large  plants   with   standardized  products  and  in 
small  low  grade  workshops  in  large  cities."     During  the  war 
period  the  classes  of  women  especially  drawn  into  industrial 
pursuits  were  domestic  servants,  teachers,  and  the  wives  and 
mothers  of  soldiers.^    The  new  lines  of  work  temporarily  at 

>  Wolfe  and  Olsen,  "War-Time  Employment  of  Women  in  the  U.  S.," 
Jour,  of  Political  Economy,  Oct.,  1919;  American  Labor  Year  Book,  191^ 
J920,  pp.  19  flf. 


mm- 


it 


H 


M 


482     HISTORY   AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

least  opened  up  to  women  during  the  War,  were  chiefly 
machine  shop  work,  assembling  small  parts  and  inspection  in 
munition  plants,  automobile  factories  and  railway  shops.  A 
few  hundred  women  were  temporarily  employed  as  "con- 
ductorettes"  on  street  railways,  and  some  obtained  work  as 
passenger  elevator  operators,  ushers  in  theaters  and  door- 
men. It  is  not  probable  that  women  will  continue  to  be 
employed  in  the  more  exacting  and  strenuous  sort  of  work 
in  machine  shops  or  elsewhere  in  industry. 

The  great  majority  of  women  who  pushed  into  industrial 
work  during  the  War  were  unorganized.  Their  coming  gave 
unionists  occasion  for  concern.  It  was  the  concensus  of 
opinion  among  unionists  that  women  should  receive  the  same 
pay  as  men  for  equal  productivity.  The  opposition  of 
unionists  to  the  influx  of  women  into  new  occupations  is  based 
very  largely  upon  the  fear  of  women  as  underbidders  in  the 
labor  market.  In  New  York,  certain  locals  of  the  Inter- 
national Association  of  Machinists  admitted  women  to  mem- 
bership. One  local  in  Brooklyn  was  entirely  composed  of 
women.  As  a  rule  the  women  who  during  the  War  crowded 
into  the  trades  hitherto  preempted  by  men,  were  not  taken 

into  the  unions.* 

For  a  decade  or  more  before  the  opening  of  the  Great  War 
various  investigations  proved  quite  conclusively  "that  the 
women  wage  earners  of  this  country  are  forced  to  labor 
under  distressing  and  inhuman  conditions,  working  long 
hours  for  miserly  smaU  wages,  hardly  sufficient  to  keep  soul 
and  body  together.'^  The  Pittsburgh  Survey  (1908)  found 
the  wages  of  laborers  employed  in  the  mills  "so  low  as  to  be 
inadequate  to  the  maintenance  of  a  normal  American  stand- 
ard of  living";  it  was  also  ascertained  that  women  received 
about  "one-half  as  much  as  unorganized  men  in  the  same 

1  The  Industrial  Replacement  of  Men  by  Women.     BuUetin  issued  by  The 
Industrial  Commission  of  New  York,  March,  1919,  PP-  43  ff- 


WOMAN  LABOR 


483 


shops,  and  one-third  as  much  as  men  in  the  union."     Of  the 
22,185  women  wage  earners  of  Pittsburgh  engaged  in  manu- 
facture and  mercantile  pursuits,  one-fifth  earned  $8.00  per 
week  or  more,  one-fifth  earned  a  median  wage  of  $7.00, 
and  the  remainder  earned  from  $3.00  to  $6.00  per  week. 
Even  in  those  days  of  comparatively  low  costs  of  living  "the 
lines  of  a  seven  dollar  budget  are  [were]  lines  of  a  barren 
life."     In  1905  the  number  of  men  reported  to  be  engaged  as 
wage  earners  in  the  manufacturing  establishments  of  the 
United  States  was  approximately  four  times  the  number  of 
women;  but  the  total  amount  of  the  wages  paid  the  men  was 
approximately  seven  and  one-half  times  the  amount  paid  to  the 
women.     It  is  unnecessary  to  multiply  statistics.     Women 
wage  earners  receive  lower  wages  than  male  workers  for  the 
same  service,  and  the  wage  received  by  a  large  percentage  of 
the  female  workers  is  less  than  an  adequate  living  wage. 
Nearing's  oft-quoted  conclusions  were  that,  in  191 1  of  the 
women  workers  in  the  northern  and  eastern  portions  of  the 
United  States,  nineteen-twentieths  earned  less  than  $601  per 
year. 

What  effect  has  the  War  made  upon  the  level  of  women's 
wage  and  upon  the  wage  received  by  women  relative  to  that 
received  by  men  for  similar  work?  ''The  prevalent  impres- 
sion," writes  Professor  Wolfe,  "that  the  War  has  caused  an 
immense  improvement  in  wage  rates  for  women  will  not  bear 
the  light  of  facts."  The  statistics  which  have  been  gathered 
of  wages  and  cost  of  living  serve  to  substantiate  this  conclusion. 
In  the  millinery  industry  of  Massachusetts  (19 19)  403  out  of 
1,864  employees  received  an  average  wage  of  less  than  $6.00 
per  week.^  In  the  summer  of  1919,  4.1  per  cent  of  the 
women  employees  of  the  hotels  of  Washington,  D.  C,  re- 
ceived   less    than    $7.00   per   week.^    The   minimum    wage 

*  Monthly  Labor  Review,  November,  1919. 
'  Ibid.,  January,  1920. 


I 


i 


Iv 


484    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

fixed  early  in  the  year  1920  by  the  findings  of  a  wage  board 
in  Washington,  for  women  employed  in  hotels  and  restaurants, 
was  $16.50  per  week.  In  New  York  State,  of  117  plants 
investigated,  29  paid  women  workers  less  than  $12.00  per 
week,  and  69  less  than  $14.00  per  week.  Only  about  one- 
fifth  of  the  plants  from  which  data  was  received  paid  women 
replacing  men  the  same  rate  as  was  paid  the  men  whose 
places  they  filled.^  The  Consumers'  League  reached  the 
conclusion  that  in  New  York  State  only  one  out  of  fourteen 
industries  employing  large  numbers  of  women,  paid  a  living 

wage  in  1919-^ 

If  low  and  msufficient  wages  are  paid  to  women  workers, 

if  low  wages  are  joined  with  a  long  working  day  and  the 
nervous  tension  of  rapid  work,  physical  and  mental  deterio- 
ration are  inevitable  consequences.     As  long  as  the  wage 
paid  women  workers  is  less  than  an  adequate  living  wage, 
a  constant  and  potent  force  is  acting  to  produce  unsocial 
and  degrading  conduct.     Low  wages,  the  long  working  day, 
and  strenuous  endeavor  are  important  causes  of  prostitution. 
*' Permanent  industrial  progress  cannot  be  built  upon  the 
physical  exhaustion  of  women,"  nor  can  it  be  built  upon  the 
moral  degradation  of   the  young  working  girl.    In  recent 
decades,   a  large  percentage   of  women  workers  have  not 
become  apprentices  or  highly  skilled  workers  because  they 
did  not  expect  to  remain  long  as  industrial  workers;    they 
were  not  spurred  on  by  the  ambitions  which  prod  the  young 
man.     Up    to  the  present  time  women    industrial  workers 
have  been,  as  a  group,  a  shifting  body  of  poorly  trained,  under- 
paid  and   overworked   employees.     The   labor^  turnover   of 
the  pre-War  women  workers  was  large.     While  there    are 
certain  reasons  for  expecting  marked  improvement  in  the 


»  The  Industrial  Replacement  of  Men  by  Women. 
Industrial  Commission  of  New  York,  March,  1919. 
»  The  Survey,  April  17,  1920. 


Bulletin  issoed  by  the 


WOMAN  LABOR 


48, 


industrial  status  of  women  in  the  next  decade,  insufficient 
time  has  elapsed  since  the  War  to  warrant  the  definite  state- 
ment of  optimistic  conclusions. 

Over  a  decade  ago  the  Pittsburgh  Survey  made  it  possible 
to  draw  some  definite  conclusions  as  to  the  competition  be- 
tween men  and  women  workers,  and  in  regard  to  the  present 
tendency  toward  the  displacement  of  men  by  women,  or 
women  by  men.  (i)  The  kinds  of  work  demanding  skill, 
strength,  or  training  have  remained  chiefly  in  the  hands  of 
the  male  workers.  (2)  Routine  and  monotonous  work  of  a 
light  and  simple  character,  particularly  where  the  material 
is  of  an  inferior  quality  —  the  sort  of  work  that  is  stupefying 
—  is  turned  over  to  the  women  workers.^  Miss  Abbott  has 
shown  that  women  do  not  displace  men  in  the  skilled  trades 
any  more  than  men  displace  women.  In  the  unskilled  work, 
however,  it  seems  that  women  do  displace  men  and  will  con- 
tinue to  displace  men  in  many  lines  as  long  as  they  can  be 
secured  at  very  low  wages.  The  casual  workers,  many  of 
whom  are  women,  act  as  a  drag  to  keep  down  the  scale  of 
wages  and  the  standard  of  living.  The  war-time  experience 
of  England  and  the  United  States  seems  to  indicate  that 
women  may  be  successful  not  only  in  routine  work  but  also 
in  many  forms  of  highly  skilled  labor  if  provisions  are  made 
for  adequate  training.^ 

Reasons  for  the  Low  Wages  of  Women  Workers.  Why  do 
women  usually  receive  lower  wages  for  the  same  work,  or 
work  requiring  a  like  degree  of  skill  and  training,  than  are  paid 
to  male  wage  earners?  Several  reasons  may  be  given: 
(i)  Women  are  physically  weaker  than  men,  and  in  certain 
occupations  cannot  perform  all  the  operations  which  can  be 

^  Free  use  has  been  made  in  this  section  of  the  Pittsburgh  Survey,  particu- 
larly of  articles  by  Miss  Butler  and  Dr.  Devine  in  Charities  and  The  Commons, 
March  6,  1909,  and  of  an  investigation  in  New  York  City  made  by  Miss 
Odcncranz,  The  Survey,  May  i,  1909. 

*  The  Industrial  Replacement  of  Men  by  Women,  p.  17. 


t 


'      * 


I 


r 


I' 


r' 
r 


48O    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

intrusted  to  male  workers.  (2)  Women  are  more  liable  to 
s/^  attacks  of  sickness  than  men.  On  the  other  hand,  dissipation 
causes  greater  irregularity  of  work  among  men  than  among 
women  workers.  (3)  Women  are  limited  to  a  smaller  number 
of  occupations  than  men,  thus  increasing  the  competition  for 
work.  Although  the  census  figures  show  that  women  workers 
were  found  in  nearly  all  of  the  three  hundred  separate 
occupations,  the  majority  of  women  workers  are  still  concen- 
trated in  a  few  occupations  —  particularly  those  requiring 
routine  work  and  little  skill.  (4)  *' Immobility  of  labor"  is  a 
more  marked  phenomenon  among  women  than  among  men 
workers.  Not  only  are  female  workers  confined  to  a  com- 
paratively small  number  of  occupations;  but  it  is  more  diffi- 
cult for  women  than  for  men  to  go  from  one  locality  to  another 
seeking  employment.  (5)  Women  workers  are  frequently 
.  subsidized.  Many  are  aided  by  relatives  or  live  at  home. 
The  subsidized  worker  is  willing  to  accept  lower  wages  than 
the  self-supporting  wage  earner,  and  becomes  a  dangerous 
competitor  of  the  latter.  (6)  Potential  and  actual  competi- 
tion with  women  workers  in  the  home  is  an  important  factor 
in  keeping  down  the  scale  of  wages.  Any  increase  in  wages 
will  cause  more  women  to  leave  the  home  and  enter  the  ranks 
of  wage  earners.  In  this  manner  the  supply  of  workers  is 
increased  and  further  advances  checked.  The  actual  com- 
petition with  workers  in  the  home  anxious  to  earn  ''pin- 
money"  is  even  more  potent.  (7)  Women  are  not,  as  a  rule, 
interested  in  learning  a  trade,  because  they  do  not  expect  to 
remain  long  as  wage  earners.  Nearly  all  look  forward  to 
matrimony.  Consequently  women  workers  are  not  as  ambi- 
tious and  eager  for  advancement  as  are  men.  Because  of 
this  industrial  instability,  employers  do  not  desire  to  take 
as  apprentices  those  who  are  anxious  to  learn  a  trade.  (8) 
Men  have  found  the  formation  of  labor  organizations  an  im- 
portant factor  in  increasing  wages.    Women  have  not  been 


WOMAN  LABOR 


487 


willing  to  organize  into  strong  unions  because  (a)  they  expect 
to  marry  in  the  not  distant  future  and  withdraw  from  the 
industrial  field,  and  (b)  the  past  experience  of  women  has  been 
such  as  to  make  it  difficult  for  them  to  organize  and  to  act 
unitedly.    This  difficulty  is  diminishing  as  the  years  pass  by. 
Organizations  of  women  workers  are  increasing  in  number 
and  in  importance;    and  union  men  are  aiding  rather  than 
opposing  such  organizations.     (9)  The  cost  of  maintenance, 
overhead  expenses,  the  cost  of  supervision,  and  of  turnover 
are  somewhat  greater  in  the  case  of  women  than  of  men 
workers.     (10)  The  custom  of  paying  women  less  than  men  is 
an    influence    which    is    not    wholly    negligible.     (11)  Until 
recently  women  have  not  been  granted  unlimited  suffrage 
except  in  a  few  western  states.    This  fact  has  been  of  some 
importance  in  keeping  down  the  wage  scale  in  municipal 
and  governmental  employment;  and  indirectly  wages  in  other 
employments  are  affected.     (12)  One  further  factor  based 
upon  the  psychology  of  women  has  been  noted.    It  is  said 
that  women  are  always  grateful  to  the  man  who  gives  them 
employment.     Consequently,  many  women  remain  with  an 
employer  when  they  might  do  better  elsewhere.    Modesty 
often  prevents  the  woman  worker  from  asking  for  increased 
wages. 

Obstacles  to  Organization.  Women  wage  earners  are  not  as 
easily  united  into  strong  and  permanent  labor  organizations 
as  are  the  male  workers.  The  number  of  women  unionists  is 
increasing;  and  very  definite  measures  are  being  taken  by 
such  organizations  as  the  National  Women's  Trade  Union 
League,  not  only  to  increase  the  numerical  strength,  but  also  to 
develop  the  spirit  of  loyalty  to  the  union.  The  great  obstacles 
which  retard  the  organization  of  female  workers  are  two  in 
number:  (i)  The  past  experience  of  generations  of  women 
has  not  been  of  the  sort  which  would  enable  a  woman  to  act  in 
unison   with  other  women.    Woman  has  lived  an   isolated, 


m 


I  > 


488    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

restricted,  and  dependent  life.    Her  sphere  has  been  the  home; 
and  she  has  been  privileged  to  have  but  few  points  of  contact 
with  the  outside  world.     Her  industry  has  ever  been  of  the 
small-scale    type.     Weather    conditions,    poor    faciUties    for 
transportation  and  conmiunication,  and  unyielding  tradiUons 
have  aided  in  preventing  this  half  of  humanity  from  parUa- 
pating  in  associated  effort  of  any  sort  whether  industrial  or 
social     As  a  consequence,  even  when  women  are  brought 
together  as  in  recent  years  in  the  factory  and  elsewhere  there 
has  been  hardly  a  modicum  of  cooperation,  associated  effort, 
or  exchange  of  experience.    Woman's  isolated  and  sheltered 
position  has  not  encouraged  innovation  or  invention,  and 
women  have  become  entangled  in  a  web  of  traditions  and 
conventions  from  which  it  is  quite  difficult  to  escape.^   The 
women's  club  represents  a  step  away  from  the  older  ideah 
It  has  been  a  training  school  for  the  teaching  of  collective  and 
organized  activity.    This  experience  is  of  value  in  hastemng 
the  growth  of  unionism  among  women  wage  earners.    The 
experience  of  women  workers  in  factories,  stores,  and  offices 
also  tends  to  modify  the  older  views  as  to  woman's  rightiul 
privileges  and  as  to  the  propriety  of  united  and  aggressive 
action.     Contact  as  wage  earners  with  the  factory  system 
and  large-scale  industry  changes  the  attitude  of  women  as 
well  as  of  men  toward  the  propriety  and  desirabiUty  of  col- 
lective activity.    The  importance  of  the  first  obstacle  is 
growing  less  and  less  with  the  passage  of  years.     (2)  A  large 
percentage  of  women  wage  earners  are  young  and  unmarried. 
They  do  not  expect  to  remain  breadwinners  except  for  a 
few  years.    Since  the  important  advantages  which  accrue 
from  a  labor  organization  are  often  long  deferred,  a  giri 
worker  is  unwilling  to  pay  dues  and  perhaps  suffer  some 
present  discomfort  for  a  collective  benefit  which  may  not  be 
received  by  the  membership  until  after  she  is  no  longer  a 
member.    Union  organizers  of  women  workers  are  presenting 


WOMAN  LABOR 


489 


a  different  and  a  pertinent  view  of  the  situation.  They  insist 
that  even  though  women  workers  do  expect  to  marry  within  a 
few  vears,  their  interest  in  labor  organizations  among  women 
is  not  small.  Low  wages  for  women  tend  to  reduce  wages 
for  men,  or  at  least  to  prevent  increases.  Organization,  it  is 
urged,  and  rightly  so,  will  aid  in  obtaining  higher  wages, 
shorter  hours,  and  better  conditions  for  women  workers.  If, 
therefore,  working  girls  refuse  to  organize  today,  their  action 
may  adversely  affect  the  income  of  their  future  husbands 
and  the  income  of  their  own  future  households.  It  follows, 
according  to  this  line  of  reasoning,  that  all  women  workers 
are  as  vitally  interested  in  labor  organizations  as  are  male 
wage  earners.  The  proposal  to  introduce  the  marriage  dowry 
as  a  benefit  feature  in  unions  of  women  workers  is  another 
method  of  breaking  the  force  of  the  second  obstacle. 

Working  Women  and  the  Home.  The  primitive  industrial 
worker  was  a  woman.  As  the  centuries  have  rolled  by,  man 
has  usurped  many  industrial  functions,  and  has  narrowed  the 
original  sphere  of  woman's  duties.  In  recent  decades  the 
home  has  been  stripped  of  various  kinds  of  industry,  and 
woman  is  following  her  work  out  of  the  home.  The  factory 
has  been  a  magnet  which  has  drawn  women  from  the  home. 
In  the  cities  of  this  country,  at  least  one  in  five  adult  women 
are  workers  employed  outside  the  home.  In  the  case  of  many 
of  the  homes  of  city  workers  of  the  unskilled  group,  the 
function  of  the  home  has  been  reduced  chiefly  to  that  of  an 
eating  and  sleeping  place.  Amusement,  social  intercourse,  the 
making  of  clothing,  and  a  considerable  part  of  the  work  of 
preparing  food  has  been  transferred  to  public  amusement  halls, 
factories,  and  bakeries.  The  home  and  women's  sphere  of 
activity  are  undergoing  remarkable  transformations. 

From  the  viewpoint  of  economic  science  the  entrance  of 
women  into  the  industrial  activity  outside  the  home  must  be 
considered  favorably.    "Women  is  half  of  mankind.     Civil- 


it 


! 


;i?' 


m 


m 


M 


490    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

ization  and  progress  have  hitherto  been  carried  forward  by 
the  male  half  alone.    Labor  and  production  are  now  suffering 
from  the  same  cause.     It  is  high  tune  that  all  the  forces  of 
society  were  brought  into  action,  and  it  is  especially  necessary 
that  those  vast  complement  forces  which  woman  alone  can 
wield  be  given  free  rein,  and  the  whole  machinery  of  society 
be  set  in  full  and  harmonious  operation."  ^     In  the  long  run 
the  entrance  of  women  into  the  factory  and  the  store  will 
increase  the  total  volume  of  production  and  should  allow  a 
diminution  in  the  length  of  the  average  working  day.    Many 
of  the  evil  effects  which  are  so  obvious  in  the  case  of  female 
wage  earners  are  due  to  the  unfavorable  conditions  which 
obtain  in  modern  industry,  and  which  adversely  affect  male 
as  weU  as  female  workers,  —  the  long  working  day,  over- 
driving, and  unhealthful  or  dangerous  working  environments. 
In  the  case  of  the  married  woman  who  is  a  wage  earner,  the 
burden  of  household  duties  stiU  further  complicates  the  situ- 
ation.   Up  to  the  present  time  the  percentage  of  such  wage 
earners  is  small.    In  1890,  4.6  per  cent  of  the  married  women 
were  wage  earners;  in  1900  the  percentage  was  5.6. 

The  problems  connected  with  the  work  of  women  outside 
the  home  are  compUcated  (i)  by  deep-seated  prejudices,  (2) 
by  the  danger  of  reducing  the  wages  of  men  during  the  period 
of  adjustment.    The  rush  of  women  mto  wage-earning  occu- 
pations affects  the  workers  akeady  in  industry  in  very  much 
the  same  manner  as  does  the  introduction  of  more  labor- 
saving  machinery.     (3)  The  third  compUcation  appHes  only 
to  mothers  who  are  wage  earners,  and  arises  out  of  the  neces- 
sity of  giving  proper  training  to  children.     The  woman  wage 
earner  is  not  an  abnormal  woman.     Idleness  or  the  perform- 
ance of  useless  forms  of  work  are  undesirable  in  the  case  of 
women  as  well  as  m  the  case  of  men.     Useful  and  efficient 
activity  is  the  birthright  of  all.     The  solution  of  the  prob- 

^  Ward,  Dynamic  Sociology.    Vol.  i:  657. 


WOMAN   LABOR 


491 


lems  connected  with  woman  labor  is  to  be  sought  not  in  the 
removal  of  women  from  wage-earning  pursuits,  but  in  improv- 
ing the  working  environment  of  the  woman  wage  earner,  and 
in  reducing  the  length  of  her  working  day.^  Labor  problems 
are  not  sharply  differentiated  along  sex  lines. 

Education  of  Women.    During  the  period  of  adjustment  to 
modified  industrial  conditions  within  the  home  the  problem 
of  the  education  of  women  presents  many  unusual  features. 
While  women  are  adjusting  themselves  to  the  requirements 
of  city  environments  and  of  new  industrial  methods,  their 
education  must  follow  two  somewhat  distinct  lines.     Each 
young  woman  must  be  prepared  to  be  a  home  maker  in  the 
old  sense  of  the  term,  and  she  ought  to  be  trained  so  that  she 
may  earn  her  own  living.     A  woman  should  be  competent 
to  manage  a  household,  she  should  understand  the  relative 
nutritive  values  of  different  foods,  and  be  familiar  with  the 
elementary  principles  of  household  sanitation  and  of  home 
decoration,  and  she  ought  to  possess  at  least  an  elementary 
knowledge  of  the  proper  methods  of  feeding  and  caring  for 
children.     On  the  other  hand,  if  our  interpretation  of  the 
trend  of  industrial  evolution  be  adequate,  a  woman  should  be 
trained,  as  should  a  man,  for  efficient  service  in  some  line  of 
human  endeavor.    Women  as  well  as  men  should  be  able  to 
earn  their  own  living  outside  the  home.    Many  may  dissent 
from  the  last  proposition,  but  doubtless  they  appeal  to  the 
past  in  support  of  their  contention.     If  women  are  to  become 
permanent  and  efficient  industrial  workers,  adequate  opportu- 
nity should  be  given  them  to  attain  workmanlike  proficiency 
in  their  chosen  trade  or  occupation.     In  the  immediate  future 
it  is  not  probable  that  all  women  will  become  wage  earners, 
but  it  is  probable  that  an  increasing  percentage  will  follow 
industry  out  of  the  home.     On  the  other  hand,  training  in 
domestic  science  and  home  economies  are  even  more  important 

1  Carlton,  Education  and  Industrial  Evolution,  Chapters  V  and  VL 


4 


492     HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

today  than  in  the  case  of  preceding  generations,  because  the 
vigor  and  stamina  of  a  race  of  city  dwellers  are  in  a  large 
measure  dependent  upon  proper  diet,  sufficient  exercise,  and 
adequate  ventilation  of  homes,  schools,  and  workshops.  In 
the  immediate  future,  therefore,  the  purpose  of  education  for 
women  must  be  twofold:  preparation  for  industrial  activity, 
and  the  preparation  for  housekeeping  and  home  making.^ 

Domestic  Seroice.  The  current  of  modern  mdustrial  prog- 
ress has  not  modified  in  any  considerable  degree  the  work 
of  the  domestic  servant;  household  industry  is  ''belated." 
Many  forms  of  work  have  gone  outside  the  home,  or  may 
be  performed  outside  the  home  in  special  workshops;  but 
the  methods  actually  used  within  the  home  are  those  of 
small-scale  industry.  The  work  of  the  servant  is  not  highly 
specialized;  she  performs  a  variety  of  services.  Instead  of 
receiving  all  of  her  wage  in  money,  as  is  the  almost  universal 
custom  in  the  case  of  other  workers  except  farm  help,  the 
domestic  servant  is  still  partially  paid  in  kind.  Her  board 
and  lodging  are  furnished  by  her  employer.  As  yet,  with 
comparatively  few  exceptions,  her  hours  of  work  per  day  or 
per  week  are  irregular.  The  demands  which  may  be  made 
upon  a  servant  are  less  definitely  determined  than  in  the  case 
of  a  factory  or  a  store  employee. 

Domestic  service  seems  to  have  developed  directly  out  of 
serfdom.  Roscher,  the  German  economist,  discusses  domestic 
service  as  an  appendk  to  his  treatment  of  slavery.  The 
habit  of  addressing  servants  by  their  first  name,  or  by  their 
last  name  as  is  the  practice  in  England,  is  probably  a  survival 
of  slavery  and  serfdom.  The  relations  between  mistress  and^ 
servant  still  savor  of  the  old  feudal  relations  between  master 
and  serf.  The  characteristic  marks  of  this  relationship  are 
the  indefiniteness  of  the  service  required  from  the  servant,  and 
the  deference  which  the  servant  is  expected  to  show  to  the 

»  Carlton,  Education  and  Industrial  Evolution,  pp.  1 18-119. 


WOMAN  LABOR 


493 


• 


various  members  of  the  household.  The  isolation  of  the 
household  servant  from  other  workers  and  the  social  stigma 
attached  to  her  work  are  other  peculiar  features  of  this  form 
of  wage  earring.  From  the  point  of  view  of  the  workers  the 
chief  evils  connected  with  the  work  of  the  domestic  servant  are 
three:  the  long  and  indefinite  working  day,  the  lack  of  home 
life,  and  the  social  stigma  placed  upon  the  domestic  servant. 

REFERENCES  FOR   FURTHER  READING 

Abbott,  Journal  of  Political  Economy.     Vols.   14,   15,   16,  and   17. 
Also,  Women  in  Industry. 

Butler   and   Devine.     The   Pittsburgh    Survey,   Charities  and   The 
Commons,  March  6,  1909. 

Butler,  Women  and  The  Trades. 

Odencrantz,  "Irregularity  of  Employment  of  Women,"  The  Survey, 
May  I,  1909. 

Report  of  the  Industrial  Commission.     Vol.  19:  923-932. 

MacLean,  Wage  Earning  Women. 

Carlton,  Education  and  Industrial  Evolution       Chs.  5  and  6. 

Kelley,  Some  Ethical  Gains  through  Legislation,  pp.  105-208. 

Kellor,  Out  of  Work,  pp.  40-178. 

Van  V^orst,  Woman  Who  Toils. 

Maule,  "What  is  a  Shop  Girl's  Life?"    World's  Work.    Vol.   14: 
9311-9316. 

Thompson,  F.  M.,  "Truth  about  Women  in  Industry,"  North  Ameri- 
can Review.    Vol.178:  751-766.  ^ 

Rubinow,  "The  Problem  of  Domestic  Service,"  Journal  of  Political 
Economy.    Vol.  14:  502-519. 

Report  on  the  Statistics  of  Labor,  Massachusetts,  1906,  pp.  87-124. 
"Domestic  Service." 

Monthly  Labor  Review,  March,  191 7,  pp.  352  ff.     "Domestic  Service." 

Roelofs,  The  Road  to  Trained  Service  in  the  Household.    Bulletin  issued 
by  the  National  Board  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 

Martin,  "The  Married  Woman  in  Industry,"  The  Survey,  February  11, 
1916. 

Carlton,  The  Industrial  Situation.     Chs.  3  and  5. 

The  American  Labor  Year  Book,  1919-1920,  pp.  17-25.     Also,  ibid., 
1917-1918,  pp.  23-28. 


^1 


494    HISTORY   AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

Wolfe  and  Olsen,  "War-Time  Industrial  Employment  of  Women, 
in  the  U.  S.",  Journal  oj  Political  Economy.  Vol.  27:  639  flf.  October, 
1919. 

The  Industrial  Replacement  of  Men  by  Women.  Bulletin  issued  by 
The  Industrial  Commission  of  N.  Y. 

Persons,  ''Women  Workers  in  the  U.  S.,"  Quarterly  Journal  of  Eco- 
nomics.    V^ol.  29,  February,  191 5. 

Henry,  The  Trade  Union  Woman. 


m 


id 

iff'; 


t  ■•- 

ft.  s 


CHAPTER   XVI 


I 


PRISON  LABOR 

Systems  of  Prison  Labor.  In  an  investigation  carried  out 
under  the  direction  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  in 
1903-1904  a  yearly  average  of  practically  eighty-six  thousand 
inmates  was  found  in  the  296  institutions  in  which  productive 
labor  to  the  annual  value  of  at  least  $1,000  was  performed. 
^^^y  59-5  P^r  cent,  of  the  total  number  incarcerated  were 
actually  employed  in  productive  labor;  24.9  per  cent,  were 
occupied  with  prison  duties,  and  the  remainder  were  sick  or 
idle.  At  least  six  industrial  systems  are  used  in  the  prisons 
of  the  United  States,  —  lease,  contract,  piece-price,  public 
account,  state-use,  and  public  works  and  ways  systems. 

The  lease  system  is  a  survival  from  the  time  before  the 
modern  idea  of  reformation  was  considered  in  the  treatment 
of  prisoners.  It  is  a  convenient  and  often  profitable  method 
of  caring  for  prisoners.  The  state  needs  houses  of  detention 
only,  not  penitentiaries;  and  often  the  income  from  the  hire 
of  the  convicts  is  not  inconsiderable.  The  convicts  are  leased 
to  contractors.  The  latter  agree  to  feed,  clothe,  house,  and 
guard  the  prisoners  and  keep  them  at  work.  The  state  sur- 
renders its  duty  of  disciplining  and  controlling  the  prisoners. 
A  public  function  is  delegated  to  private  agencies.  The 
lessee  is  interested  in  making  a  profit  from  the  labor  power  of 
the  convicts;  the  conditions  under  the  lease  system  approx- 
imate those  obtaining  under  a  slave  system.  Reformation 
finds  no  place  in  this  method  of  caring  for  prisoners.  The  lease 
system  is  a  relic  of  barbarism;  nothing  can  be  said  in  its  favor 
except  that  it  saves  the  state  certain  expenses  and  allows 

495 


m 


11; 
In 


Hl!^ 


\i 


496    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

certain  private  contractors  to  increase  their  income.  In 
1906  the  prison  commission  of  Georgia  reported  that  the  net 
profits  to  the  state  from  its  leased  convicts  were  approximately 
$355,cxx5.  The  prisoners  were  used  in  saw-mills  and  brick- 
yards, on  farms  and  in  road  building.  "Some  of  the  large 
fortunes  in  Atlanta  have  come  chiefly  from  the  labor  of 
chain  gangs  of  convicts  leased  from  the  state."  In  1903- 
1904  only  five  states,  Alabama,  Georgia,  Florida,  Virginia 
and  Wyoming,  were  disgraced  by  this  system.  Georgia 
abandoned  the  system  in  1908.  An  additional  evil  in  the 
lease  system  is  found  in  the  incentive  to  increase  the  number 
of  arrests  in  order  to  increase  the  total  profits  that  may  be 
made  from  the  prisoners. 

The  contract  system  is  a  modified  and  improved  form  of 
the  lease  system.  The  state  feeds,  clothes,  houses,  guards, 
and  disciplines  the  prisoners.  The  work  is  performed  within 
the  prison  walls.  The  contractor  usually  furnishes  the 
machines  and  the  raw  material.  He  superintends  the  work, 
markets  the  product,  and  pays  the  state  a  stipulated  sum 
for  the  labor  of  each  convict.  Various  devices  are  utilized 
by  contractors  to  stimulate  the  workers.  In  1903-1904 
the    contract    system  was    used   in  institutions    located  in 

27  states. 

Under  this  system  the  state  need  not  invest  in  expensive 
machinery,  and  the  warden  is  relieved  of  certain  business 
cares  connected  with  other  systems  of  convict  labor.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  prisoners  are  under  a  divided  control;  and  it 
is  practically  impossible  to  provide  a  variety  of  industries  so 
that  prisoners  may  be  placed  at  the  kind  of  work  for  which 
they  are  best  adapted.  Labor  cannot  be  made  reformatory 
or  developmental  when  profits  constitute  the  chief  end  and 
aim  of  the  system.  Wage  earners  and  business  men  fre- 
quently object  to  this  system  of  prison  labor  because  of  the 
danger  of  direct  competition  with  free  labor.    The  work  of 


PRISON  LABOR 


497 


the  prisoners  is  usually  concentrated  upon  a  small  number  of 
products,  thus  increasing  the  competitive  evils. 

The  piece-price  system  is  similar  to  the  contract  system. 
The  contractor  pays  the  state  a  stipulated  sum  per  article 
produced  instead  of  per  convict  furnished.  The  prison 
officials  dictate  the  amount  of  work  to  be  performed  per  day 
by  the  prisoners,  and  usually  supervise  the  work.  The  state 
practically  agrees  to  convert  the  raw  material  of  the  con- 
tractor into  finished  articles  for  a  stipulated  sum.  The  state 
does  not  market  any  of  the  products. 

In  the  public-account  system  the  state  becomes  a  manu- 
facturer utilizing  prison  labor.  The  private  contractor  is 
eliminated,  and  all  profits  are  turned  into  the  treasury  of  the 
state.  Under  this  system  successful  prison  officials  ought  not 
only  to  understand  the  science  of  penology,  but  they  ought  also 
to  possess  business  ability.  The  state  must  invest  in  expensive 
machinery,  and  must  be  prepared  to  meet  changing  market 
conditions.  Considerations  connected  with  profit  making  are 
likely  to  triumph  over  those  concerned  primarily  with  the  wel- 
fare and  reformation  of  the  prisoners.  The  probability  of 
undesirable  competition  with  industry  outside  the  prison  walls 
is  practically  the  same  as  in  the  contract  or  the  piece-price  sys- 
tem. The  latter  systems  seem  on  the  whole  preferable  to  the 
public-account  system.  Institutions  located  in  forty  states 
were  using  this  system  in  1903- 1904.  Michigan  has  recently 
built  a  binder-twine  plant  in  the  state  penitentiary  at  Jackson. 
The  state-use  system  eliminates  direct  competition  between 
con\ict-made  goods  and  the  goods  made  outside  the  prison 
walls.  All  articles  produced  are  utilized  in  the  various  state 
institutions.  Of  course,  if  the  prisoners  did  not  manufacture 
the  supplies  for  the  various  state  institutions,  the  necessary 
work  would  be  performed  by  free  workmen;  but  the  competi- 
tion is  indirect.  The  representatives  of  organized  labor  are, 
as  a  rule,  in  favor  of  the  state-use  system. 


I 

1} 


■I 


498     HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

The  buildings  of  the  federal  prison  at  Fort  Leavenworth, 
Kansas,  were  constructed  by  the  prisoners.  Some  of  the 
prisoners  are  used  upon  the  prison  farm,  many  in  making 
bricks,  others  in  constructing  new  buildings.  Outdoor  work 
is  considered  by  the  warden  to  have  a  very  beneficial  influence 
upon  the  physical,  mental,  and  moral  stamina  of  the  prisoners. 
The  State  Tuberculosis  Hospital  of  Georgia  was  erected 
almost  entirely  by  convicts. 

The  Cleveland  Farm  Colony  at  Warrensville,  Ohio,  is 
located  upon  a  tract  of  land  1,950  acres  in  area.  On  the  farm 
are  located  the  ''correctional  farm"  (workhouse),  the  "farm 
colony"  or  poor  farm,  and  a  hospital  for  patients  afflicted 
with  tuberculosis.  The  farm  is  worked  by  the  inmates  of  the 
correctional  house  and  the  home  for  the  indigent.  A  stone 
quarry  is  also  worked  by  inmates  from  the  correctional  insti- 
tution. The  farm  furnishes  vegetables,  and  the  stone  quarry 
stone  and  cement  for  various  city  institutions.  Many  con- 
victs are  employed  upon  a  state  farm  in  Georgia.  "This 
system  seeks  to  conserve  three  interests  instead  of  two  —  the 
financial  interest  of  the  state,  the  general  interest  of  the  con- 
vict, and  to  at  least  an  equal  extent,  the  interest  of  free  labor, 
which  is  ignored  entirely  in  the  lease,  contract,  and  piece- 
price  systems  and  to  a  great  extent  in  the  public-account 
system."^  The  state-use  system  cannot  always  furnish  the 
variety  of  work  which  is  desirable  in  order  that  prisoners 
may  be  given  the  work  for  which  they  are  adapted;  and  the 
plants  often  cannot  be  worked  to  their  fullest  capacity,  or  in 
the  most  efficient  and  economical  manner. 

The  public  works  and  ways  system  is  merely  a  modification 
of  the  state-use  system.  The  prisoners  are  used  to  construct 
and  repair  public  buildings,  roads,  parks,  and  the  like.  The 
construction  of  the  buildings  at  the  Fort  Leavenworth  prison 
is  an  example  of  the  use  of  this  system  of  prison  labor.    The 

»  Twentieth  Annual  Report  of  Commissioner  of  Labor,  p.  19. 


PRISON   LABOR 


499 


most  customary  application  of  the  public  works  and  ways 
system  is   in  the  construction  of  roads. 

Should  the  Convict  he  a  Producer?  Manufacturers  of  the 
kinds  of  goods  produced  in  prisons  and  members  of  labor 
organizations  are  almost  a  unit  in  their  opposition  to  the 
lease,  contract,  piece-price,  and  public-account  systems  of 
prison  labor.  They  point  to  the  demoralizing  effect  of  the 
competition  of  prison-made  goods  with  articles  produced  by 
free  labor.  The  tendency  is  to  reduce  the  prices  obtained 
for  the  particular  kind  of  goods  or  at  least  to  cause  the 
market  to  become  unsteady,  to  decrease  the  wages  and, 
therefore,  to  lower  the  standard  of  living  of  the  free  workers. 
Such  competition  also,  it  is  urged,  tends  to  cause  deteriora- 
tion in  the  quahty  of  the  products  made  outside  the  prison. 
The  manufacturers  put  a  poorer  article  on  the  market  in  order 
to  meet  the  competition  of  the  prison-made  articles.  As  has 
been  stated,  little  opposition  is  manifested  toward  the  state- 
use  and  the  public  works  and  ways  systems. 

Convict  labor  is  marked  by  certain  peculiarities  which 
make  it  a  menace  to  free  labor,  (i)  It  is  a  form  of  subsidized 
labor;  the  prisoner  must  be  fed,  clothed,  and  housed  whether 
he  works  or  lives  in  idleness.  (2)  The  labor  force  is  always 
available;  it  cannot  strike,  nor  can  an  individual  worker 
withdraw  in  order  to  accept  another  job.  (3)  Convict  labor 
and  the  output  of  convict-made  goods  will  be  very  slightly 
affected  by  periods  of  depression  or  of  prosperity.  (4)  Con- 
vict labor  is  quite  similar  in  many  respects  to  slave  labor. 
The  motives  which  lead  to  industry  are  almost  identical. 

From  the  standpoint  of  society  and  from  that  of  the  tax- 
payer, it  is  desirable  that  prisoners  be  producers.  Non- 
producers  and  idlers  are  social  burdens  whether  inside  or 
outside  of  prison  walls.  In  so  far  as  prisoners  contribute 
through  their  labor  to  their  own  maintenance,  the  burden  of 
taxation  is  reduced.     Considerations  of  humanity  and  the 


n 


500    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

ideal  of  reformation  require  that  prisoners  be  given  regular 
and  useful  work.  Idleness  begets  degeneracy.  With  a  view 
of  making  it  possible  for  the  discharged  prisoner  to  take  his 
place  in  the  ranks  of  useful  free  workers,  some  kind  of  trade 
instruction  should  be  given  at  least  to  prisoners  who  have 
not  reached  the  age  of  forty  or  forty-five  years.  Discharged 
prisoners  ought  to  be  prepared  to  earn  their  living.  There- 
fore, the  work  given  should  be  of  such  a  character  as  will  be 
useful  outside  the  prison  walls.  At  this  point  the  principle 
of  reformation  often  conflicts  with  the  demand  for  financial 
gain.  Teaching  prisoners  trades  or  certain  forms  of  useful 
industry  often  reduces  the  total  value  of  the  prison's  output 
below  what  a  purely  business  administration  would  attain. 
Non-productive  labor,  such  as  twisting  and  untwisting  ropes 
is  degrading  and  mischievous  in  its  effect  upon  the  prisoner, 
y  Conclusions,  i.  All  convicts  should  be  given  useful  work 
to  perform.  This  is  urged  on  the  double  ground  of  economy 
and  health.  2.  All  young  prisoners,  at  least,  ought  to  be 
taught  some  trade  which  will  help  them  to  earn  an  honest 
living  after  leaving  the  institution.  In  the  federal  prisons  the 
use  of  machinery  is  prohibited.  3.  Prison-made  goods  ought 
not  to  be  placed  on  the  market  so  as  to  come  into  injurious 
competition  with  free  labor.  4.  A  national  law  prohibiting 
convict-made  goods  from  entering  into  interstate  commerce 
is  desirable.  Such  an  enactment  would  enable  a  state  to  im- 
prove its  laws  in  regard  to  convict  labor  without  meeting 
competition  from  the  convict -made  goods  of  other  states. 

Recent  Progress.  In  191 5,  the  lease  system  was  used  in 
only  one  state,  Florida;  the  contract  system  in  18  states; 
the  piece-price  system  in  four;  the  public  account  system  in 
19;  the  state  use  system  in  35;  and  the  public  works  and 
ways  system  in   27   states.^    In   1918,  Florida  is  reported 

1  "Convict  Labor  for  Road  Work,"  Bulletin,  No.  414,  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture,  1916. 


\ 


PRISON   LABOR 


SOI 


to  have  received  $350  per  year  for  each  convict  leased  to 
private  contractors.  Louisiana  took  a  step  backward  in 
1918  by  repealing  the  law  abolishing  the  lease  system  in  that 
state;  but,  in  191 7,  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee  abolished 
the  contract  system.  The  lease,  contract  and  piece-price 
systems  are  being  gradually  eliminated  in  the  United  States; 
and  there  is  an  increasing  tendency  to  adopt  systems  in  which 
the  convict  is  employed  entirely  for  the  benefit  of  the  state 
or  municipal ty.  The  automobile  license  plates  used  in 
Ohio  are  made  in  the  Ohio  penitentiary  at  Columbus.  Toledo, 
in  191 7,  began  to  utilize  the  inmates  of  the  local  workhouse 
to  manufacture  the  soap  used  in  the  city  schools,  offices  and 
departments.  Within  the  last  four  or  five  years  sentiment 
has  rapidly  crystallized  in  favor  of  using  convicts  in  road 
building  or  in  prison  farms.  It  is  suggested  that  prisoners 
be  paid  small  wages  for  their  work,  that  a  portion  of  their 
earnings  be  given  to  the  families  normally  dependent  upon 
these  convicts,  and  the  remainder  be  held  until  they  leave 
the  prison.  The  family  of  a  convict  would  receive  something 
as  a  result  of  the  efforts  of  the  bread-winner  and  the  dis 
charged  prisoner  would  have  a  little  sum  at  his  disposal. 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

Twentieth  Annual  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Labor.    Chs.  i  and  2. 
Report  of  the  Industrial  Commission.     Vol.  3. 
Henderson,  Dependents,  Defectives,  Delinquents,  pp.  294-298. 
Bliss,  Encyclopedia  of  Social  Reform.    Article  on  Convict  Labor. 
Russell,  "Beating  Men  to  Make  Them  Good,"  Hampton's  Magazine^ 
October,  1909. 

Baker,  The  American  Magazine,  June,  1907.  A  word  picture  of  the 
evils  of  the  lease  system. 

Several  articles  in  The  Annals  of  the  American  Academy.  Vol.  46. 
March,  1913. 

"Convict  Labor  for  Road  Work,"  Bulletin,  No.  414,  U.  S.  Department 
of  Agriculture,  19 16. 

Whitin,  Penal  Servitude, 


i= 


I 


I 


m 


-ill  ^ 


<m    < 


CHAPTER  XVII 


UNEMPLOYMENT 


Unemployment  is  not  purely  a  labor  problem.  In  times  of 
depression  there  are  unemployed  land  and  capital  as  well  as  an 
unemployed  labor  force.  Maladjustments  because  of  modi- 
fied tastes  and  the  eccentricities  of  fashion'  affect  both  capital 
and  labor.  To  the  average  wage  earner  the  irregularity  of 
employment  furnishes  an  ever-present  source  of  anxiety. 
Unemployment  is  one  of  the  important  causes  of  poverty  and 
of  lack  of  thrift  and  foresight  on  the  part  of  the  wage-earning 
population.  Periods  of  idleness  are  often  demoralizing  to 
the  individual,  and  increase  the  amount  of  debauchery, 
crime,  and  industrial  inefficiency.  Casual  and  irregular  em- 
ployment is  almost  universally  recognized  by  students  of 
practical  sociology  "to  involve  deterioration  in  both  the 
physique  and  character  of  those  engaged  in  it.'* 

Unemployment  is  a  comprehensive  term  and  is  the  result 
of  a  multitude  of  causes.  Unemployment  and  vacation  must 
first  be  differentiated.  Vacation  is  a  cessation  from  labor  for 
the  sake  of  rest  and  recuperation.  Unemployment  is  caused 
by  inability  to  work  or  to  obtain  employment.  In  certain 
border  cases  it  is  difficult  to  distinguish  between  a  case  of 
unemployment  and  of  vacation.  The  building  trades  ex- 
perience periods  of  slack  work  during  the  winter  season. 
Since  high  wages  are  maintained  in  these  trades,  this  period 
of  idleness  may  be  said  to  approximate  in  character  a  vacation. 
In  the  clothing  industry  the  slack  season,  on  the  other  hand, 
may  be  termed  one  of  unemployment.^ 

»  See  Report  of  the  Industrial  Commissipn*  .  Vol.  19 :  749. 

502 


M 


UNEMPLOYMENT 


503 


Causes  of  Unemployment.  Many  classifications  of  the  causes 
of  unemployment  and  of  the  varieties  of  the  unemployed  have 
been  devised.  For  present  purposes  the  causes  of  unem- 
ployment may  be  grouped  under  four  general  headings: 
personal,  climatic,  industrial,  the  ignorance  and  immobility  of 
workers.  Many  persons  are  unemployed  because  of  sundry 
reasons,  such  as  youth,  old  age,  sickness,  accident,  mental 
disability,  intemperance,  and  degeneracy.  The  unemployable 
are  unable  or  unwilling  to  give  fairly  efficient  service.  Changes 
in  the  season  and  in  the  condition  of  the  weather  affect  the 
employment  of  various  classes  of  wage  earners,  such  as  sailors, 
farm  laborers,  workers  in  the  building  trades,  section  hands 
on  the  railway,  construction  gangs  upon  the  railways,  canals, 
reservoirs,  and  the  like.  Workers  in  the  clothing  industry 
are  affected  by  changes  in  demand  due  to  weather  conditions. 

The  industrial  causes  of  unemployment  are  of  particular 
interest  to  the  student  of  labor  problems.  Strikes  and  lock- 
outs cause  unemployment  at  times  in  nearly  all  lines  of  indus- 
try. However,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  a  strike  does  not 
always  increase  unemployment;  it  frequently  merely  shifts 
the  period  of  unemployment  from  one  season  of  the  year  to 
another.  The  introduction  and  use  of  machinery  and  of 
improved  methods  or  processes  of  manufacturing  or  of  trans- 
porting goods  affect  the  sum  total  of  unemployment.  The 
effect  of  the  use  of  machinery  upon  the  amount  of  unemploy- 
ment may  be  considered  from  several  different  viewpoints, 
(i)  Does  the  introduction  of  machinery  temporarily  displace 
workers?  (2)  Does  such  introduction  permanently  displace 
workers?  (3)  Has  the  introduction  of  machinery  tended  to 
produce  cycles  of  prosperity  and  depression  with  the  conse- 
quent irregularity  of  employment?  (4)  Has  the  introduction 
of  machinery  increased  the  over-driving  of  workers,  thus 
causing  them  to  be  thrown  out  as  unemployable  while  they 
should  be  in  the  prime  of  life? 


hi 


504    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

The  introduction  of  a  new  "labor  saving "  device  or  machine 
displaces  many  individual  workers;  and  it  frequently  destroys 
the  value  of  a  trade.  The  introduction  of  machinery  reduced, 
for  example,  the  value  of  the  shoemaker's  trade.  The  in- 
vention of  the  linotype  affected  the  value  of  the  printers' 
trade.  It  is  not  easy  for  the  men  who  have  worked  for  years 
in  one  trade  to  adjust  themselves  to  new  conditions  when  the 
demand  for  their  skill  is  suddenly  destroyed  by  the  invention 
of  a  machine  which  does  the  work  formerly  required  of  them. 
Eventually  the  demand  for  workers  may  be  increased  as  the 
result  of  introduction  of  machinery;  but  immediately  many 
individuals  lose  good  jobs  because  the  machine  is  ready  to  do 
their  work.  They  are  thrown  out  of  employment,  or  they  are 
obliged  to  accept  an  inferior  job  at  lower  wages.  For  a  time, 
in  the  *' short  run,"  many  wage  earners  are  undoubtedly 
adversely  affected  as  a  result  of  the  introduction  of  machinery. 
It  is  not  comforting  to  tell  the  man  who  is  jobless,  or  whose 
income  is  reduced  so  that  his  standard  of  living  must  be 
lowered,  or  whose  wife  and  children  must  become  wage  earn- 
ers, that  in  the  "long  run"  and  for  the  great  mass  of  workers 
these  "newfangled"  machines  will  be  beneficial.  Perhaps 
for  him  there  will  be  no  long  run.  A  profound  philosophy  of 
world  progress  and  of  human  betterment  does  not  appeal  to 
the  man  with  a  family  dependent  upon  his  daily  earnings 
when  he  faces  the  prospect  of  having  his  skill  and  training 
rendered  unmarketable. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  society  should  compensate  workers 
for  the  loss  of  a  trade.  The  principle  of  vested  interests  is  ap- 
plied to  the  skill  and  knowledge  possessed  by  the  master  of  a 
skilled  trade.  "By  the  Doctrine  of  Vested  Interests  we  mean 
the  assumption  that  the  wages  and  other  conditions  of  employ- 
ment hitherto  enjoyed  by  any  section  of  workmen  ought  under 
no   circumstances   to   be  interfered  with  for  the  worse."* 

*  Webb,  Industrial  Democracy^  p.  562,  1902  edition. 


UNEMPLOYMENT 


505 


The  various  struggles  on  the  part  of  organized  and  unorgan- 
ized labor  against  the  introduction  of  machinery  have  implied 
the  tacit  acceptance  of  this  doctrine,  although  the  precipi- 
tating cause  was  an  unreasoning  hatred  of  the  inanimate 
machine  which  was  reaching  out  for  the  workers'  jobs  and 
apparently  taking  away  their  bread  and  butter.  The  well 
organized  printers,  it  will  be  recalled,  met  the  menace  of  the 
linotype  by  insisting  that  only  skilled  printers  should  oper- 
ate the  machine.  The  adjustment  within  the  industry  was 
thus  made  without  serious  injury  to  the  skilled  men  in  the 
trade. 

The  American  economists  Hadley  and  Wright  are  con- 
vinced that  machinery  has  caused  an  "expansion"  of  labor 
which  is  greater  than  the  "displacement"  caused  by  its  intro- 
duction. Hobson,  the  well  known  English  economist,  after 
a  study  of  statistics  of  English  industries,  is  less  optimistic. 
Hobson  is  driven  to  the  conclusion  "that  the  net  influence  of 
machinery  is  to  diminish  employment  so  far  as  those  indus- 
tries are  concerned  into  which  machinery  directly  enters,  and 
to  increase  slightly  the  demand  in  those  industries  which 
machinery  affects  but  slightly  or  indirectly."  ^ 

Machine  industries  furnish  a  standardized  product  for  which 
the  demand  is  large  and  relatively  stable.  If  the  effect  of  the 
introduction  of  machinery  is  to  drive  relatively  larger  numbers 
of  wage  earners  into  the  industries  using  little  machinery,  the 
tendency  "is  to  drive  ever  and  ever  larger  numbers  of  workers 
from  the  less  to  the  more  unsteady  employments."  Thus 
argues  Hobson.  Again,  it  has  been  asserted  that  panics  and 
industrial  depressions  are  to  be  attributed  in  a  large  measure 
to  the  introduction  of  machinery.  In  all  panics,  however, 
other  factors  enter.  The  severe  crises  of  1837  and  1873  were 
preceded  by  wide- spread  speculation.    Land  values  increased 

^Evolution  of  Modern  Capitalism,  pp.  234-235;  also  see  Political  Science 
Quarterly,  Vol.  8  :  97. 


X 


> 


Ik 


r  < 


506    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

enormously;  vast  sums  were  spent  in  canals  and  railways 
without  a  reasonable  expectation  of  a  fair  return  upon  the 
investment  in  the  near  future.  In  the  past,  irregularity  of 
operations  in  the  industries  utilizing  much  machinery  may 
have  been  due  to  the  lack  of  centralized  control  of  industry; 
with  the  development  of  the  trust  and  the  integration  of 
industry  these  irregularities  may  be  expected  to  disappear  or 
to  be  minimized.  No  definite  and  entirely  satisfactory 
answer  can  be  given  to  the  second  and  third  questions  in 
regard  to  the  influence  of  machinery  upon  employment. 

The  charge  that  industry  is  increasing  unemployment  by 
throwing  workers  of  middle  age  upon  the  industrial  scrap-heap 
is  a  serious  indictment.  With  the  introduction  of  machinery 
the  length  of  the  working  day  has  been  somewhat  reduced, 
But  the  speed  of  the  worker  has  been  increased  and  the 
strain  intensified.  Division  of  labor  and  the  systematization 
of  industry  have  reduced  the  importance  of  the  individual 
wage  earner.  The  unskilled  worker  is  merely  a  link  in  the 
chain.  The  individuality  of  the  link  is  of  little  moment.  The 
units  may  change  frequently  without  disturbing  the  progress 
of  the  work.  This  peculiarity  of  modem  industry,  coupled 
with  the  fact  that  the  human  scrap-heap  of  an  industrial 
establishment  is  not  a  burden  upon  the  industry,  has  led  the 
managers  of  many  factories  and  mines  to  wear  out  rapidly 
the  lives  of  their  workers,  and  to  discard  them  soon  after  they 
have  passed  the  period  of  maximum  physical  vigor.  This 
policy  seems  advantageous  to  the  employer;  but  the  evils  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  wage  earners,  as  well  as  from  that  of 
the  community  in  which  the  workers  live,  are  obvious.  This 
phenomenon,  however,  is  not  entirely  of  recent  origin.  Adam 
Smith  in  his  Wealth  of  Nations  makes  this  significant  state- 
ment: "workmen  .  .  .  when  they  are  liberally  paid  by  the 
piece  are  very  apt  to  overwork  themselves,  and  to  ruin 
their  health  and  constitution  in  a  few  years.     A  carpenter 


UNEMPLOYMENT 


507 


in  London,  and  in  some  other  places,  is  not  supposed  to  last 
in  his  utmost  vigor  above  eight  years.'* 

Statistics  of  Unemployment  and  of  Irregularity  of  Employ- 
ment. Adequate  statistics  of  unemployment  are  not  available. 
Unemployment  is  an  ever-present  phenomenon;  but  the 
amount  varies  greatly  from  month  to  month  and  from  year  to 
year.  Fairly  accurate  statistics  of  unemployment  among  the 
organized  workers  of  the  State  of  New  York  are  available. 
The  smallest  percentage  of  unemployed  among  the  trade 
unionists  of  New  York  at  the  end  of  any  month  during  the 
period  1904  to  1909  inclusive,  was  5.6.  At  the  end  of  October, 
1905,  only  56  out  of  every  1,000  trade  unionists  were  idle;  but 
at  the  end  of  February  and  at  the  end  of  March,  1908,  375 
out  of  every  1,000  were  idle.  October,  1905,  was  a  favorable 
month  in  a  prosperous  vear.  February  and  March,  1908, 
were  unfavorable  months  in  a  year  of  financial  depression. 
Within  two  years  the  mean  percentage  of  unemployment 
fluctuated  from  9.3  to  29.7  among  the  organized  laborers  of 
the  state.  From  1909  to  19 17,  the  smallest  percentage  of 
unemployment,  approximately  5.5,  was  registered  in  October, 
191 2,  and  the  largest  percentage,  approximately  40,  in  Decem- 
ber, 1 9 13,  and  January,  191 5.  It  is  not  unreasonable  to 
infer  (i)  that  the  fluctuation  in  percentage  of  unemployment 
among  the  unskilled  and  unorganized  must  have  been  greater; 
and  (2)  that  the  actual  percentage  of  unemployed  in  both 
years  was  probably  larger  among  the  unorganized  workers 
of  New  York.  Organized  workers,  however,  include  certain 
workers  especially  liable  to  unemployment,  for  example,  the 
building  trades  and  the  clothing  industry.  The  situation 
is  certainly  alarming  when  approximately  two  out  of  every 
five  organized  workers  of  a  great  state  are  unemployed  as 
was  the  situation  in  New  York  in  February  and  March,  1908, 
December,  19 13,  and  January,  191 5.  An  estimate  that  one- 
half  of  the  unskilled  workers  of  New  York  were  out  of  a  job 


Si  > 

i 


;i 


508    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

in  the  spring  of  1908  is  by  no  means  extravagant.  In  the 
State  of  Massachusetts,  statistics  regarding  the  employ- 
ment of  organized  workers  are  also  gathered.  The  percent- 
ages are  given  for  each  period  of  three  months.  During  the 
ten-year  period,  1909- 19 18,  the  lowest  percentage  of  un- 
employment was  reported  as  three  for  the  quarter  ending 
June  29,  1918,  and  the  highest  as  18.3  for  the  quarter  ending 
December  31,  19 14.  The  figures  for  different  years  are  not 
strictly  comparable  because  of  shifting  membership  of  the 
unions  reporting.  In  the  Report  of  the  Commission  on  In- 
dustrial Relations  (191 5)  it  was  estimated  that  ''wage  earners 
in  the  principal  manufacturing  and  mining  industries  in  the 
United  States  lose  on  the  average  from  one-fifth  to  one-fourth 
of  the  working  time  during  the  normal  year." 

The  causes  of  unemployment  among  organized  workers  of 
Massachusetts  and  New  York  are  tabulated  in  the  two  suc- 
ceeding tables.  It  should  be  observed  that  lack  of  work  is 
an  important  factor  in  causing  unemployment  in  both  states. 

Massachusetts 
Causes  of  Idleness  on  December  jr ,  1918  Number  Idle  Membershi^p  Idle 

Lack  of  Work  or  Material 11,629  5.3 

Unfavorable  Weather 429  *                0.2 

Strikes  or  Lockouts 2,249  10 

Disability  (Accident,  Sickness,  Old  Age) . .      5,405  2.4 
Other  Causes  including  Shut-downs,  Vaca- 
tions, Stock-taking,  etc 1,269  06 

Total 20,981  9.5 

New  York 

Causes  of  Idleness  on  Sept.  30,  1909  Number  Idle     Percentage  Idle 

Lack  of  Work 27,225 

Lack  of  Stock •        2,517 

Weather 894 

Labor  Disputes 2,867 

Disability 3,ooo 

Other  Reasons  or  Reasons  not  Stated 465  

Total 36,968  10. 3 


UNEMPLOYMENT 


509 


Among  the  employed  considerable  time  is  lost  during  a 
month  or  a  year.  Referring  again  to  New  York  during  the 
three  months  of  July,  August,  and  September,  1909,  319,754 
organized  male  workers  were  reported  as  employed.  Of  this 
number  4,289  were  employed  from  one  to  twenty-nine  days; 
43,891  from  thirty  to  fifty-nine  days;  211,593  from  sixty  to 
seventy-nine  days;  and  59,981,  eighty  days  or  more.  The 
average  per  individual  was  seventy-two  days.  Deducting 
Sundays  and  two  holidays,  the  normal  number  of  working 
days  for  the  quarter  would  be  seventy-seven.  The  coal  min- 
ing industry  furnishes  an  example  of  great  irregularity  of 
employment.  In  the  bituminous  coal  mines  the  number 
of  days  of  employment  for  miners,  from  1890  to  1900  inclusive, 
ranged  from  171  in  1894  to  234  in  1899  and  1900.  In  the 
anthracite  field  the  variation  was  from  150  in  1897  to  203  in 
1891.  In  one  of  the  large  packing  houses  in  the  Chicago 
stock  yards  an  investigation  found  that  in  the  period  from 
June  24,  1905,  to  June  6,  1906,  the  average  number  of  hours 
worked  per  week  by  the  cattle  butchers  varied  from  a  minimum 
of  27  hours  to  a  maximum  of  52  hours,  or  from  an  average  of 
four  and  one-half  hours  per  day  to  eight  and  two-thirds  hours. 

The  percentage  of  idleness  among  organized  workers  in 
the  clothmg  trades  in  New  York  State  fluctuated  from  ap- 
proximately two  per  cent  in  September,  191 2,  to  eighty 
per  cent  in  March,  1913.  In  the  building  trades  in  the 
same  state,  the  percentage  among  organized  workers  was 
reported  to  be  ten  in  the  summer  of  191 2  and  fifty- two  in 
April,  19 1 5.  The  United  States  Commissioner  of  Labor 
Statistics  estimated  that  out  of  2,445,000  wage  earners  in 
New  York  City,  398,000,  or  over  sixteen  per  cent,  were 
totally  out  of  work  in  February,  1915,  and  164,000,  or  less 
than  seven  per  cent,  in  September,  1915.  The  federal 
Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  tabulated  reports  showing  the 
volume  of  employment  in  thirteen  manufacturing  industries 


i,t 


ii 


510    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

in  January,  1920,  as  compared  with  January,  1919.  In 
two  industries  increases  in  the  number  of  persons  employed 
amounting  to  54.2  and  51  per  cent  respectively  were  recorded; 
in  a  third  a  decrease  of  24.9  was  shown.^  In  order  to  obtain 
the  full  significance  of  these  cold  figures  of  unemployment 
and  of  irregularity  of  employment,  the  reader  should  try  to 
translate  them  into  terms  of  home  life,  and  human  weal  and 
woe;  an  attempt  should  be  made  to  visualize  the  demoraliza- 
tion, decreased  efficiency  and  social  waste  consequent  upon 
the  jerky  method  of  doing  business  which  has  been  so  charac- 
teristic of  American  industry  in  recent  decades.  Unemploy- 
ment and  irregularity  of  employment  are  important  factors 
in  the  feeling  of  ''economic  insecurity"  which  oppresses 
many  a  family  in  the  wage-earning  group. 

How  may  Unemployment  be  Reduced?  When  considerable 
numbers  of  men  who  are  able  and  willing  to  work  in  order  to 
support  themselves  and  families  are  unable  to  find  employ- 
ment, a  condition  of  maladjustment  exists  in  the  industrial 
mechanism  which  is  of  serious  import  to  all  members  of  the 
community  and  of  the  nation.  The  prevention  of  unemploy- 
ment in  the  case  of  the  normal  individual  is  one  of  the  vital 
social  and  economic  problems  of  modem  times.  In  sharp 
contrast  with  the  large  number  of  the  out-of-work  may  be 
placed  the  multitude  of  the  overworked.  A  solution  of  the 
problem  of  the  unemployed  will  involve  an  adjustment  or  a 
division  of  work  between  the  over-  and  the  under-worked.  It 
will  deal  with  the  improvement  of  the  underfed,  the  badly 
housed,  and  the  poorly  educated  workers.  The  attempt  to 
solve  the  problem  of  the  unemployed  will  lead  to  a  careful 
consideration  of  questions  of  taxation,  currency,  special  privi- 
leges, property  rights,  ownership  of  land  and  of  natural 
resources,  immigration,  and  industrial  management. 

*  Course  of  Employment  in  New  York  State  from  igo4  to  igi6.     Bulletin  of 
the  Industrial  Commission;  and  Monthly  Labor  Review,  March,  1920,  p.  146. 


UNEMPLOYMENT 


511 


Many  schemes  have  been  formulated  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
ducing the  amount  of  unemployment.  A  few  of  these  pro- 
posals will  be  briefly  considered,  (i)  The  amount  of  unem- 
ployment because  of  sickness  and  ill-health  could  be  measurably 
reduced  by  legislation  in  regard  to  sanitary  conditions  in  work- 
shops, factories,  and  dwelling  houses,  and  by  the  education  of 
the  general  public  in  regard  to  the  danger  to  the  individual  of 
a  lack  of  proper  ventilation,  of  carelessness  in  the  disposal  of 
wastes,  of  a  badly  selected  diet,  ot  improperly  prepared  food, 
and  so  on  through  a  long  list.  The  introduction  of  domestic 
science  into  the  public  schools  is  a  step  in  the  right  direction. 
The  amount  of  drunkenness  and  debauchery  and,  therefore, 
of  unemployment,  is  increased  because  the  ordinary  rules  of 
right  living  in  regard  to  diet,  fresh  air,  and  disposal  of  wastes 
are  not  followed.  Under  modern  conditions  these  matters 
are  as  much  social  as  individual.  The  sanitary  conditions 
of  the  factory  in  which  the  wage  earner  works  and  of  the 
tenement  in  which  he  and  his  family  live,  and  the  purity  of 
the  food  they  eat  and  the  milk  and  water  they  drink  are  in  no 
small  measure  beyond  the  control  of  the  individual  most 
directly  concerned.  It  has  been  estimated  that  the  average 
individual  in  the  United  States  is  seriously  ill  thirteen  days 
in  each  and  every  year;  or  that  about  3,000,000  persons  are 
sick  on  any  given  day.^ 

(2)  The  reduction  of  rapid  and  senseless  changes  in  demand 
at  the  behest  of  fashion  would  eliminate  much  of  the  irregu- 
larity in  certain  industries.  A  campaign  of  education,  how- 
ever, would  face  almost  insurmountable  obstacles. 

(3)  The  general  introduction  of  industrial  education  into 
the  public  schools  will  increase  the  skill  and  mobility  of  future 
wage  earners,  thus  enabling  them  to  shift  more  readily  from 
one  occupation  to  another.     The  adaptable  man  is  needed. 

*  Irving  Fisher,  National  Vitality.  Senate  Document  No.  676.  Sixtieth 
Congress,  First  Session,  p.  656. 


It  I 


hi 


V 


512    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

This  desired  end  might  be  partially  accomplished  by  teaching 
each   mdividual    two   allied    trades.     The    ''double-barreled 
man"  will  have  two  chances  to  get  a  job  to  one  on  the  part  of 
the  man  with  one  trade;  and  the  former  will  be  able  more 
readily  to  adapt  himself  to  changes  in  industrial  conditions. 
(4)  A  practical  method  of  reducing  the  volume  of  unem- 
ployment during  a  period  of  depression  is  to  hasten  the 
improvement  of  roads,  streets,  and  public  parks,  to  build 
public  buildings  and  to  push  work   upon  various   desirable 
public  improvements.    The  work  can  be  performed,  as  a  rule, 
cheaply  at  this  time,  and  the  expenditures  for  charitable 
relief  will  also  be  reduced.     During  the  panic  of  1908  several 
municipalities  used  this  method  of  furnishing  employment. 
The  Socialist  party  placed  the  following  demand  in  their 
1908  platform:  "The  immediate  government  relief  for  unem- 
ployed workers  by  building  schools,  by  the  reforesting  of  cut- 
over  and  waste  lands,  by  reclamation  of  arid  tracts,  and  the 
building  of  canals,  and  by  extending  all  other  useful  public 
works."     In  the  fall  of  1909  the  English  ParUament  passed 
a  "development  bill"  which  provided  that  certain  public 
works  be  undertaken.    The  work  is  to  be  done  chiefly  when 
work  is  slack  in  the  business  world.     An  Idaho  law  of  1915 
authorizes  and   requires   county   commissioners   to  provide 
emergency  employment  on  public  highways  or  elsewhere. 

(5)  The  growth  of  large  business  combinations,  accom- 
panied by  the  disappearance  of  fierce  competition  within 
particular  industrial  groups  and  the  increase  of  governmental 
and  municipal  regulation  of  industry,  will  reduce  the  fluctua- 
tions in  the  demand  for  labor.  Labor  unions  sometimes 
demand  that  part  time  be  worked  with  a  full  force  instead  of 
discharging  a  portion  of  the  force  and  operating  full  time. 
With  the  enlargement  of  the  business  unit  and  the  knitting 
together  of  different  classes  of  businesses,  the  opportunity  to 
dovetail  industries  will  increase,  thus  reducing  the  seasonal 


UNEMPLOYMENT 


513 


oscillation  in  the  demand  for  labor.  Many  sailors  and  long- 
shoremen on  the  Great  Lakes  find  work  in  the  logging  camps 
during  the  winter.  In  Oregon,  during  the  slack  season,  many 
factory  workers  and  their  families  go  into  the  country  to 
pick  hops. 

(6)  The  unemployment  which  is  caused  by  the  early  dis- 
charge of  the  overdriven  wage  earner  will  be  reduced  by  the 
general  introduction  of  an  adequate  system  of  workingmen's 
insurance. 

(7)  The  single  taxers  and  the  socialists  enthusiastically 
present  their  panaceas  for  unemployment. 

(8)  Unemployment  and  under-employment  are  no  longer 
considered  merely  as  problems  to  be  assigned  for  solution  to 
students    of    philanthropy.    Unemployment    and    irregular 
employment  are  being  recognized  as  important  problems  in 
industrial   management.     Consequently,    emphasis   is   being 
placed  upon  the  establishment  of  a  well-organized  and  wide- 
spread system  of  employment  agencies  and  upon  the  work 
of  employment  managers  in  industrial  plants.    Abnormal  war 
problems  and  the  drying  up  of  the  stream  of  immigration 
have  doubtless  hastened  the  acceptance  of  this  new  point 
of  view.    As  long  as  considerable  groups  of  unemployed 
gathered  each  morning  outside  the  factory  doors,  employers 
did  not  consider   the  problem  of  stabilizing  industry  and 
of  reducing  labor  turnover  to  be  a  job  which  business  men 
should  tackle.    The  unemployed  problem  was  left  in  the 
hands  of  social  workers.    But  the  war  period  with  its  relative 
scarcity  of  workers  has  temporarily  given  impetus  to  the 
study  of  employment  problems  as  integral  parts  of  industrial 
management.    If  the  analysis  made  in  preceding  chapters 
of  scientific  management,  the  human  element  in  industry, 
and  the  shop  committee,  be  accurate,  it  is  not  unreasonable 
to  anticipate  continued  keen  interest  in  the  matter  of  un- 
employment in  business  circles. 


;l 


1  '; 
f 


'i 


'  1 


1. 


hi 


:l) 


I 


514     fflSTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

In  the  past  employers  as  well  as  unemployed  wage  earners 
were  often  ignorant  of  the  conditions  of  the  labor  market. 
Efficient  employment  agencies  aid  in  bringing  together  the 
employer  looking  for  workers,  and  the  worker  looking  for  a 
job.  The  employment  agency  cannot  create  opportunities 
for  employment;  but  it  can  aid  in  getting  the  unemployed 
a  job  when  vacancies  exist.  If  attemps  were  made  to  send 
workers  from  one  locality  to  another,  an  efficient  system  of 
employment  agencies  might  meet  with  some  opposition  from 
organized  labor.  The  unions  in  the  places  to  which  work- 
men were  sent  might  object  because  the  local  supply  of  labor 
would  be  increased.  Agriculture  is,  however,  the  chief  occu- 
pation which  is  calling  for  the  transfer  of  men  from  one 
locality  to  another.  The  method  of  going  aimlessly  from 
shop  to  shop  and  from  town  to  town  seeking  a  job  is 
wasteful,  disheartening,  and  frequently  degrading  and  de- 
moralizing; and  it  often  affords  a  favorable  opportunity 
for  the  employer  to  nibble  at  the  wage  scale.  It  is  unsyste- 
matic and  should  be  replaced  by  efficient  employment  bureaus 
which  gather  statistics  and  information  as  to  the  demand  for 
and  supply  of  workers  in  different  trades  and  in  different 
sections  of  the  country.  A  model  employment  agency  should 
reduce  maladjustment.  Iron  and  steel,  wheat,  wool,  stocks 
and  bonds,  —  all  have  known  market  places;  but  the  demand 
and  supply  of  labor  is  still  equated  by  the  pack-peddler  method. 
A  model  employment  bureau  should  in  a  large  measure  relieve 
the  employer  of  "the  task  of  trying  out  new  hands."  Most 
employment  agencies  are  not  good  sales  agencies.  Their 
managers  do  not  "know  its  merchandise."  Employers  dis- 
trust employment  agencies  because  the  recommendation  of 
the  agency  is  usually  based  upon  insufficient  knowledge  of 
the  ability  and  record  of  the  person  recommended.  The 
young  boy  or  girl  leaving  school  should  find  an  agency  of 
assistance.     Many  leave  school  to  enter  occupations  which 


UNEMPLOYMENT 


515 


pay  relatively  high  wages  at  first,  but  which  afford  slight 
opportunity  for  advancement.  Of  those  applying  for  assist- 
tance  under  the  English  Unemployed  Workman  Act  "no  less 
than  twenty-eight  per  cent  are  between  twenty  and  thirty 
years  of  age."  The  employment  bureau  should  also  aid  the 
young  in  the  selection  of  proper  vocations.  The  personal 
characteristics  of  the  applicant  and  the  opportunities  in  a 
given  occupation  should  be  given  careful  consideration. 

Employment  agencies  are  of  two  general  types:  —  private 
and  public.  These  in  turn  may  be  subdivided.  Private  agen- 
cies are  of  at  least  four  kinds:  —  (a)  fee-charging;  (b)  operated 
for  philanthropic  reasons;  (c)  conducted  by  associations"*^of 
employers;  and  (d)  conducted  by  labor  organizations.  Public 
agencies  are  municipal,  state  or  federal,  or  some  combination 
of  the  three  types.  The  evils  of  the  private  fee-charging 
agency  are  many.  Too  many  of  the  agencies  are  operated 
chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  defrauding  the  wage  worker  seeking 
a  job.  Such  agencies  are  interested  in  filling  vacancies. 
They  do  not  desire  to  aid  in  reducing  the  amount  of  un- 
employment or  in  the  upbuilding  of  a  stable  labor  force. 
From  the  point  of  view  of  the  managers  of  these  agencies  a 
large  labor  turnover  is  desirable.  The  Reconstruction 
Program  (1919)  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  de- 
manded the  abolition  of  operated-for-profit  employment 
agencies.  The  federal  Commission  on  Industrial  Relations 
found  that  the  private  employment  agency  "business  as  a 
whole  reeks  with  fraud,  extortion  and  flagrant  abuses  of 
every  kind."  Approximately  one-half  of  the  states  have 
passed  laws  regulating  the  private  fee-charging  agency; 
but  the  laws  have  failed  to  check  the  abuses.  In  19 14,  Wash- 
ington enacted  a  law  by  popular  vote  making  it  unlawful 
for  a  private  employment  agency  to  charge  a  fee  to  persons 
looking  for  work.     This  act  was  declared  unconstitutional 


I 


\ 


'I  ■• 


n 


516    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

in  191 7  by  the  federal  Supreme  Court.    The  decision  was  by 
a  five  to  four  vote. 

The  philanthropic  agencies,  such  as  those  operated  by 
charity  societies,  have  been  numerous.  As  a  part  of  the 
mechanism  of  a  charity  society,  these  agencies  have  helped 
certain  individuals;  but  as  a  factor  in  the  development 
of  an  adequate  labor  market,  they  are  negligible.  The 
employers'  employment  agencies  are  feared  by  wage  workers 
because  they  may  be  used  as  a  big  black-listing  instrumen- 
tality; and  employers  are  inclined  to  look  with  suspicion 
upon  the  union  agency.  The  legitimate  purposes  of  such 
agencies  could  be  performed  by  a  well-organized  system  of 
public  agencies.  The  operation  of  a  nation-wide  and  well- 
organized  system  of  employment  agencies  is  certainly  as 
legitimately  the  function  of  the  government  as  is  a  weather 
bureau  or  a  geological  survey. 

The  first  free  state  employment  agencies  were  established 
in  Ohio  in  1890;  but  there  was  little  demand  for  them.  Or- 
ganized labor  favored  the  opening  of  these  offices;  but  em- 
ployers were  indifferent.  The  success  of  these  agencies 
was  not  notable.  The  United  Kingdom  inaugurated  a 
system  of  labor  exchanges  in  February,  1910.  In  191 7, 
twenty  states  had  one  or  more  employment  offices  under  the 
partial  or  complete  control  of  state  officials.  In  addition 
certain  municipalities  had  established  offices.  The  total 
number  of  offices  established  was  96. 

Federal  employment  work  began  in  a  tentative  fashion  in 
1907.  The  chief  aim  was  to  aid  in  the  distribution  of  im- 
migrants. The  act  establishing  the  Department  of  Labor 
recited  that  one  of  the  purposes  of  the  new  Department  was 
to  be  to  advance  "opportunities  for  profitable  employment." 
When  the  Great  War  opened  in  August,  19 14,  the  stream  of 
immigration  was  greatly  reduced  and  at  the  same  time  in- 
dustry  was   temporarily   disorganized   and   the  amount   of 


UNEMPLOYMENT 


517 


unemployment  was  not  small.  The  Commissioner- General 
of  Immigration  decided  to  utilize  the  Immigration  Service 
to  gather  information  as  to  actual  vacancies  and  to  give 
wide  publicity  to  such  information.  The  cooperation  of  the 
Post  Office  Department  was  secured.  After  the  United 
States  became  involved  in  the  War,  a  well-knit  organization 
was  worked  out.  The  city  and  state  offices  had  not  been 
knit  together  into  a  well  coordinated  system.  A  new  govern- 
mental agency,  the  United  States  Employment  Service,  was 
organized  to  take  over  the  work  which  had  been  carried  on 
by  the  Immigration  Service. 

Granting    that    employment    agencies    for   wage    workers 
should  be  managed  exclusively  by  governmental  authority, 
two  plans  are  feasible:  —  the  agencies  may  be  placed  under 
the  direct  control  of  the  federal  government,  or  the  agencies 
may  be  placed  under  the  guidance  of  state  or  local  officials 
cooperating   with   federal  authorities.     The   essence   of   the 
second    plan    "is    federal-state-municipal    cooperation,    held 
together  by  federal  subsidies."     The  advocates  of   the  first 
plan  point  out  that  it  would  have  the  advantage  of  cen- 
tralization of  control  with  resultant  economies  and  unifor- 
mities of  regulations,  that  the  personnel  would  be  superior 
under  federal  control  and  that  job  seekers  would  have  greater 
confidence  in  a  federal  than  in  a  decentralized  system.^     On 
the  other  hand,  it  is  argued  that  emplo>Tnent  is  a  local  prob- 
lem.    The  prime  purpose  of  an  employment  agency  should 
be  to  place  workers  in  local  establishments.    Managers  of 
employment  agencies,  it  is  held,  should  have  an  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  local  situation.     "The  ideal  system  would 
seem  to  be  one  in  which  the  control  and  direction  of    the 
service  rests  in  the  federal  government,  and  federal  funds 
bear  much  of  the  expense;    but  in  which  through  a  sub- 
stantial contribution  to  the  cost  of  service,  and  participation 

1  Barnett,  American  Economic  Revien',  Supplement,  March,  1918. 


J* 


5i8    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

in  the  management  of  the  service,  the  local  viewpoint  is 
emphasized  and  given  proper  weight."  ^  A  joint  advisory 
committee  in  each  locality  composed  of  representatives  of 
unions  and  of  employers,  may  be  desirable. 

(9)  A  new  departure  in  business  organization  is  the  estab- 
lishment of  personnel  or  employment  departments.    This 
step  signifies  that  employers  are  becoming  convinced  that 
the  hiring  and  discharging  of  workers  is  an  important  part 
of  industrial  management.    It  heralds  the  passing  of  the 
leadership  of  the  old-fashioned    employers  who    clung  te- 
naciously to  the  "drive"  poUcy  of  managing  a  factory,  who 
insisted  that  their  plants  could  be  "run  with  proper  discipline 
only  when  there  are  hungry  men  at  the  gate  waiting  to  take 
the  jobs  of  the  unruly  or  too  aspiring."    The  rise  of  the  shop 
committee  and  the  installation  of  departments  of  employment 
management  are  promising  signs  of  a  new  era  in  industrial 
management.    The  duties  of  an  employment  manager  are 
many  and  varied,     i.  He  should  hire  all  shop  employees, 
superintend  transfers  of  workers  from  one  department  to 
another,  and  approve  aU  discharges.    The  right  of  hiring, 
discharging  and  disciplining  is  taken  very  largely  out  of  the 
control  of  the  foremen.    One  potent  cause  of  large  labor 
turnovers  and  friction  has  been  the  petty  tyrannies  of  fore- 
men.    2.  The  employment  manager  should  study  the  causes 
of  labor  turnover  and  absenteeism,  and  should  be  prepared 
to  formulate  plans  for  the  reduction  of  labor  turnover  and 
for   the   stimulation   of   regularity.     Labor   turnover   is   an 
"intangible  overhead  cost."    It  was  estimated  in  1919  that 
the  average  turnover  in  all  sorts  of  factories  has  been  not  far 
from  one  hundred  per  cent  —  that  is,  the  number  of  ter- 
minations in  a  year  equalled  the  average  working  force  of 
the  plant.2    The  significance  of  this  "overhead  expense"  is 

*  Lescohier,  The  Labor  Market,  pp.  215-216, 

*  Slichter,  The  Turnover  0/  Factory  Labor, 


UNEMPLOYMENT 


519 


clear  since  estimates  of  the  cost  of  hiring  and  "breaking  in" 
a  new  employee  range  from  $25.00  to  $100.00.  3.  The 
adjustment  of  grievances  is  one  of  the  more  important  duties 
of  the  employment  manager.  He  should  be  easily  accessible 
and  should  have  sufficient  authority  to  be  in  a  position  to  act 
quickly.  A  capable  employment  manager  should  free  shop 
committees  quite  largely  from  the  necessity  of  considering 
grievances.  These  committees  would  then  be  at  liberty  to 
turn  their  attention  to  improved  production  methods  and 
positive  programs  for  shop  betterment.  4.  The  employment 
manager  should  assist  in  determining  the  rates  and  methods 
of  wage  payment.  5.  He  should  also  recommend  changes  in 
working  conditions  which  will  reduce  fatigue  and  the  number 
of  accidents,  and  will  improve  the  health  and  spirit  of  the 
working  force.^ 

The  Right  to  a  Job.  Does  an  individual  have  a  right  to  a 
Job?  Does  the  right  to  live  and  to  have  liberty  imply  the 
right  to  have  an  opportunity  to  earn  a  living?  Even  if  the 
individual  is  denied  such  rights  as  an  individual,  the  right  to 
a  job  is  entitled  to  a  hearing  on  the  ground  of  social  expediency. 
Particularly  is  this  true  in  a  country  favored  with  a  democratic 
form  of  government  and  an  efficient  industrial  system.  Surely 
the  conservation  of  the  rights  to  Kfe,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit 
of  happiness  is  difficult  unless  the  right  to  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  earn  a  living  is  conceded.  The  practical  difficulties 
to  be  overcome  in  successfully  carrying  out  a  policy  of  guar- 
anteeing to  every  able-bodied  worker  an  opportunity  to  earn 
the  minimum  amount  necessary  for  subsistence  are  many;  but 
the  problem  is  being  forced  upon  modern  society.  Under 
a  primitive  economy,  when  conditions  were  normal,  demand 
was  always  accompanied  by  an  opportunity  to  make  a  direct 
effort  to  obtain  satisfaction.     Our  present  complex  economic 

*  Fisher  and  Jones,  Employment  Management.    Bulletin,  No.  50,  issued  by 
the  Federal  Board  of  Vocational  Education,  January,  1920. 


Ik 


i! 


520    HISTORY   AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

system  gives  this  privilege  to  only  a  fraction  of  the  community. 
In  order  to  satisfy  wants,  the  majority  must  obtain  work  of 
some  other  individual  —  from  an  employer.  An  individual, 
in  order  to  satisfy  his  wants,  must  find  an  employer  who  is 
willing  to  give  him  a  job.  The  establishment  of  a  legal  right 
to  work  would  make  the  wage  earner  less  dependent  upon  the 
private  employer.^  The  poUcy  of  furnishing  work  upon 
various  public  improvements  during  a  period  of  depression 
constitutes  a  step  in  that  direction.  If  the  legal  right  to  an 
opportunity  to  work  were  recognized,  involuntary  poverty 
would  in  a  large  measure  disappear;  and  the  vagrant,  the 
vagabond,  and  the  seeker  after  charity  would  be  obliged  to 
prove  that  they  were  unable  to  work. 

Unemployment  Insurance.  Unemployment  insurance  is  not 
a  direct  method  of  reducing  the  amount  of  unemployment. 
It  should  serve  two  purposes :  {a)  alleviate  the  suffering  and 
reduce  the  economic  insecurity  consequent  upon  unemploy- 
ment and  irregularity  of  employment;  {h)  furnish  a  potent 
mcentive  to  adopt  industrial  programs  which  will  reduce 
labor  turnover  and  tend  to  eliminate  the  ''jerky"  methods 
of  conducting  business  enterprises.  Unemployment  is  a 
risk  which  recurs  with  sufficient  regularity  to  make  it  an  insur- 
able form  of  risk.  The  difficulty  lies  in  the  lack  of  a  simple 
and  workable  test  of  unemployment.  Too  many  individuals 
would  prefer  idleness  with  small  insurance  to  work  and  a 
larger  income.  The  moral  hazard  in  unemployment  in- 
surance is  not  small.  Certain  practical  difficulties  are  hard 
to  overcome.  What  shall  be  the  attitude  in  case  of  unemploy- 
ment due  to  strikes  or  toward  putting  insured  unemploved 
into  the  places  of  strikers?  Shall  an  unemploved  man  who 
is,  for  example,  a  skilled  man  be  debarred  from  receiving 
unemployment  insurance  if  he  refuses  to  take  a  job  as  an 
See  the  writer's  Education  and  Induslrid  Euoluiion,  pp.  291-294. 


) 


UNEMPLOYMENT 


521 


unskilled  worker?  One  of  the  first  essentials  in  the  inaugura- 
tion of  a  system  of  unemployment  insurance  is  the  organization 
of  a  network  of  efficient  and  cooperating  employment  agencies. 

Voluntary  unemployment  insurance  with  a  public  subsidy 
has  been  tried  in  certain  municipalities  of  Continental  Europe. 
The  City  of  Ghent  had  a  very  successful  system  in  operation 
before  the  War.  The  only  example  of  a  national  system 
is  found  in  Great  Britain.  The  British  system  is  compulsory; 
but  it  only  covers  certain  trades  in  which  unemployment 
was  quite  serious  at  the  time  of  the  passage  of  the  act  — 
191 1.  About  one-sixth  of  the  workingmen  of  Great  Britain 
are  covered  by  the  act.  The  law  requires  a  uniform  weekly 
deduction  from  the  wages  of  each  insured  worker,  a  like 
payment  by  the  employer,  and  a  subiidy  from  the  govern- 
ment. Small  cash  benefits  are  paid  for  a  period  not  to  exceed 
fifteen  weeks  in  any  one  year.  The  worker  in  order  to  re- 
ceive unemployment  benefits  must  prove  "  employability," 
be  unsuccessful  in  findmg  suitable  employment,  and  present 
himself  each  day  at  a  public  employment  agency.  Benefits 
are  not  paid  to  strikers,  to  workers  who  quit  work  without 
due  cause,  or  to  those  discharged  because  of  inefficiency  or 
bad  conduct.  Rebates  are  paid  to  employers  who  keep  their 
labor  force  continuously  on  the  payroll;  a  refund  is  also  paid 
to  insured  workmen  who  have  made  five  hundred  weekly 
payments  into  the  insurance  fund  and  who  have  reached  the 
age  of  sixty  years.  These  provisions  give  a  direct  incentive 
toward  regularizing  work.^ 

The  "dismissal  wage"  is  a  proposal  which  bears  a  certain 
resemblance  to  unemployment  insurance.  Under  this  scheme 
an  employer  discharging  an  employee  because  of  lack  of  work 
would  be  required  to  pay  wages  for,  say,  two  weeks  after  dis- 

»  Foerster,  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  VehrudiTy,  191 2;  Seager,  .4  wer/can 
Labor  Legislation  Review,  May,  1914;  Commons  and  Andrews,  Principles  of 
Labor  Legislation,  pp.  409-414. 


\hi 


li 

if.  • 


It 


522    fflSTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

charge.  In  case  of  sickness,  a  strike  or  a  lockout,  the  worker 
concerned  should  be  considered  as  still  a  part  of  the  labor 
force.  After  the  strike  or  lockout  ended,  the  worker  would 
be  entitled  to  a  dismissal  wage  only  in  case  the  firm  refused 
to  reemploy  him  under  the  conditions  specified  in  the  terms 
of  settlement.  Supervision  by  public  authorities  would  be 
necessary  to  carry  out  equitably  the  provisions  of  the  law.^ 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

Report  of  Ihe  Industrial  Commission.     Vol.19:  746-763. 

Bulletins  of  the  Department  of  Labor  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

Labor  Bulletins  of  the  Massachusetts  Bureau  of  Statistics. 

Hobson,  The  Evolution  of  Modern  Capitalism.  Chs.  7  and  8.  Also, 
The  Problem  of  the  Unemployed. 

Wright,  Industrial  Evolution  of  the  United  States.    Chs.  27  and  28. 

Hadley,  Economics.     Ch.  11. 

Devine,  Misery  and  its  Causes.    Ch.  3. 

Commons,  "The  Right  to  Work,"  The  Arena.    Feb.  1899. 

Bliss,  "The  Unemployed  in  European  Countries,"  Bulletin  of  the 
Bureau  of  Labor,  No.  76. 

Devine,  Report  on  the  Desirability  of  Establishing  an  Employment 
Bureau  in  the  City  of  New  York  (1909)- 

Webb,  Industrial  Democracy y  pp.  430-452;  784-795- 

Kellor,  Out  of  Work. 

Bliss,  New  Encyclopedia  of  Social  Reform.    Article  on  Unemployment. 

Bolen,  Getting  A  Living.    Chs.  16  and  22. 

Beveridge,  Unemployment.    A  Problem  of  Industry. 

Lescohier,  The  Labor  Market. 

Commons  and  Andrews,  Principles  of  Labor  Legislation. 

Kelly,  Hiring  the  Worker. 

Slichter,  The  Turnover  of  Factory  Labor. 

Gibbon,  Unemployment  Insurance. 

Streightoff,  The  Standard  of  Living.    Ch.  3. 

Canlton,  The  Industrial  Situation.     Ch.  7. 

Rubinow,  Social  Insurance.    Pt.  5. 

»  Ross,  Monthly  Labor  Review,  March,  1919,  pp.  15-191 


UNEMPLOYMENT 


523 


Barnes,  The  Longshoremen. 

Bulletins  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.    Nos.  109,  192,  195,  220,  247. 
Report  of  the  Commission  on  Industrial  Relations  (1916),  pp.  103-116. 
Fisher  and  Jones,  Employment  Management.    Bulletin  No.  50,  issued 
by  the  Federal  Board  of  Vocational  Education. 

Kieling,  "The  Casual  Labor  Problem,"  Economic  Journal,  March, 

1913- 

Devine,  "Federal  Employment  Service,"  The  Survey,  April  5,  1919. 


INDUSTRIAL  AND  TRADE  EDUCATION 


525 


U< 


m 

m 


it 


CHAPTER   XVIII 
INDUSTRIAL  AND  TRADE  EDUCATION 

The   Training   of  Apprentices.     Originally   apprenticeship 
rules  applied  alike  to  the  trades  and  to  the  so-called  learned 
professions.    Although    concealed   under  new  names,  these 
have  been  adhered  to  quite  rigidly  down  to  the  present  time  in 
the  professions.    With  some  exceptions,  the  division  seems  to 
have  been  made  according  to  the  character  of  the  product. 
If  the  product  of  the  trade  or  profession  is  material,  appren- 
ticeship rules  have  gradually  been  changed,  and,  in  a  large 
measure,  have  become  obsolete.    If  the  product  of  the  trade 
or  profession  is  immaterial,  the  rules  have  been  successfully 
upheld  by  the  gild  of  the  profession  and  legalized  by  appro- 
priate legislation.     The  old  apprenticeship  system  reaches 
back  to  the  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth.     During  her  reign  it  was 
enacted  that  no  person  should  exercise  any  trade  or  "mys- 
tery'' without  serving  an  apprenticeship  of  seven  years.    The 
apprentice  was  indentured  to  a  master  for  that  period.     The 
apprentice  lived  in  the  home  of  the  master  as  a  member  of 
his  family.    The  master  became  the  guardian  of  the  boy.    He 
was  responsible  for  the  physical  well-being  and  the  intellectual, 
moral,  and  manual  training  of  the  apprentice. 

As  long  as  the  handicraft  system  prevailed,  the  old  appren- 
ticeship system  served  its  purpose  fairly  well,  although  doubt- 
less many  boys  were  not  properly  taught  and  were  exploited  in 
the  interests  of  their  masters.  With  the  industrial  revolution 
and  the  introduction  of  machinery  came  the  decadence  of  the 
system  of  apprenticeship.  By  1864  the  old  apprenticeship 
system  was  practically  only  a  matter  of  history.     In  the 

524 


/ 


decade  of  the  sixties  the  attitude  of  the  wage  earners  has  been 
summarized  somewhat  as  follows:  (i)  The  period  of  appren- 
ticeship should  be  fixed  at  not  less  than  five  years.  (2)  The 
number  of  apprentices  in  a  trade  should  be  limited.  "The 
unanimous  feeling  among  mechanics  was  that  the  cause  of 
low  wages,  lack  of  work,  and  powerlessness  of  workers  to 
withstand  oppression  by  employers  was  due  to  an  excessive 
number  of  workers  in  the  various  skilled  trades,  and  that  the 
outlook  for  the  future  was  getting  increasingly  darker  because 
of  the  continual  pouring  in  of  more  boys."  (3)  The  appren- 
tice should  be  more  thoroughly  trained.  The  complaint  was 
made  that  the  employer  was  teaching  the  apprentice  only  a 
fraction  of  his  trade.  (4)  A  legal  system  of  indenture  some- 
what modified  from  that  of  the  old  and  outgrown  system 
was  advocated.^  The  modem  system  of  training  appren- 
tices is  the  fruitage  of  the  period  since  the  close  of  the  Civil 

War  era. 

Two  very  important  reasons  may  be  given  for  the  evolution 
of  a  new  system  of  training  apprentices,  (a)  The  introduc- 
tion of  machinery  and  the  subdivision  of  labor  have  made 
the  training  of  the  apprentices  a  burden.^  (b)  The  intro- 
duction of  accurate  quantitative  and  qualitative  methods  of 
measurement  into  all  industrial  processes,  and  the  use  of  the 
blueprint  and  of  interchangeable  parts,  have  made  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  rudimentary  principles  of  mathematics,  physics, 
and  mechanics  essential  to  the  training  of  a  skilled  workman. 
The  new  system  of  training  apprentices  coordinates  shop  and 
school  training.  The  old  apprenticeship  system  is  dead;  but 
a  new  form  is  being  evolved.  The  training  of  the  apprentice 
now  involves  the  whole  problem  of  trade  and  industrial 
education.     Dr.  Wright  came  to  the  conclusion  that  "the 

»  Wright,  Bulletin  of  United  States  Bureau  of  Education.    Whole  No.  38ft 

p.  16,  1908. 

^  Discussed  in  the  section  on  apprentices  in  Chapter  VI. 


U  I.V     . 


U: 


r 


526    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

apprenticeship  system  is  a  power  to  be  reckoned  with";  he 
declared  it  to  be  found  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States. 
However,  the  shop  or  the  store  no  longer  furnishes  adequate 
training  for  efficient  mastery  of  a  trade  or  calling.  The 
school  in  some  form  is  essential  in  the  training  of  those  who 
are  to  carry  on  the  industrial  work  of  the  immediate  future. 
The  trade  or  vocational  school  or  the  training  course  is  the 
modern  substitute  for  the  apprenticeship  system;  or  more 
accurately,  it  is  now  an  integral  feature  of  an  apprenticeship 
system. 

Although  the  methods  employed  in  training  apprentices 
vary  considerably  in  different  shops,  at  least  two  general  types 
may  be  discerned.  In  the  first  type,  the  shop  and  the  school 
training  are  both  carried  on  directly  under  the  control  of  the 
employing  company.  In  the  second,  a  certain  amount  of 
school  training  is  required  or  expected  of  apprentices  outside 
of  working  hours;  but  the  apprentices  attend  public  schools 
or  private  schools  not  under  the  immediate  supervision  of  the 
officials  of  the  company.  The  systems  of  the  General  Electric 
Company  at  Fort  Wayne,  Indiana,  and  of  the  New  York 
Central  lines  are  excellent  examples  of  the  first  type.  The 
second  type  of  training  depends  upon  schools  giving  vocational 
instruction. 

The  General  Electric  Company  at  its  Fort  Wayne  plants 
conducts  three  forms  of  specialized  training  courses.  First, 
an  apprentice  school  for  machinists  and  toohnakers  has  been 
established.  "In  this  school  selected  applicants  are  given 
a  short  preliminary  course  to  see  if  they  are  likely  to  develop 
into  efficient  workmen.  Those  who  pass  this  preliminary 
course  sign  a  contract  for  four  years  (the  time  required  for 
the  completion  of  the  course),  during  which  the  men  are 
given  one  and  one-quarter  hours'  daily  instruction  in  such 
subjects  as  drafting,  mathematics,  and  business  English. 
The  other  hours  of  the  day  are  spent  at  the  machine  or  bench, 


INDUSTRIAL  AND  TRADE  EDUCATION 


527 


where  they  are  under  the  direction  of  experienced  instructors. 
These  apprentice  students  are  paid  a  fair  and  graded  rate 
.  during  the  entire  time,  and  at  the  end  of  the  course  are  given 
a  bonus  if  they  pass  their  school  examinations,  and  still  a 
second  bonus  if  they  pass  their  mechanical  examinations. 
It  takes  no  stretch  of  imagination  to  realize  that  men  so 
trained  in  an  atmosphere  of  intelligence  and  advancement 
cannot  fail  to  become  the  finest  grade  of  high-class-  mechanics, 
foremen,  and  leaders."  ^    The  second  type  of  training  course 
is  for  graduate  engineers.     The  aim  is  to  familiarize  them 
with  the  particular  problems  of  the  plant.     The  third  is 
called  "intensive  specialized  courses."    It  has  been  found 
"profitable  to  give  an  intensive  training  course  in  drafting 
for  women,  who,  on  completion  of  the  course,  are  transferred 
to  regular  drafting  work  in  the  engineering  and  drafting 
departments.    Women  clerks  in  the  factory  also  are  given 
the  advantage  of  special  courses  in  blue-print  reading  and 
factory  routine,  which  familiarizes  them  with  the  product 
and  systems  to  the  extent  that  they  can  readily  grasp  situa- 
tions and  intelligently  carry  on  the  work." 

For  a  decade  or  more  the  engineering  department  of  the 
University  of  Cincinnati  has  conducted  "cooperative  courses" 
in  mechanical,  electrical  and  chemical  engmeering.  The 
work  is  so  planned  that  students  are  engaged  alternately  in 
the  engineering  college  and  in  the  shops  of  some  manufactur- 
ing plant  in  the  city.  One  section  of  the  class  is  in  college 
while  the  other  is  at  work  in  the  shop.  In  this  way  the 
manufacturers  have  at  all  times  a  full  force  of  apprentices. 
Six  years  are  required  to  complete  the  course.  The  entrance 
requirements  are  the  same  as  in  the  case  of  the  regular  students. 
Many  railways  and  a  considerable  number  of  manufactur- 
ing plants  have  definite  training  courses  for  apprentices  and 
other  employees.    While  the  American  railways  were  under 

*  Training  Bulletin,  No.  6.    United  States  Training  Service. 


H  ': 


528    mSTORY   AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED   LABOR 

the  control  of  the  United  States  Railroad  Administration 
further  steps  were  taken  looking  toward  the  establishment  of 
p^rt-time  training  schools  for  apprentices.     The  Industrial, 
Commission  of  Wisconsin  is  authorized  by  law  to  supervise 
the  indenturing,  training  and  schooling  of  apprentices  in  that 

state. 

In  certain  trades  or  occupations  in  which  the  safety,  health, 
and  general  welfare  of  the  workers  or  of  the  general  public 
are  quite  directly  dependent  upon  the  efficiency  and  skill  of 
the  operators,  the  government,  acting  under  the  police  power 
of  the  state,  has  passed  laws  regulating  and  restricting  employ- 
ment, and  requiring  that  these  trades  shall  not  be  practised 
except  by  properly  qualified  persons.  The  federal  govern- 
ment and  about  three-fourths  of  the  states  have  enacted  laws 
requiring  the  examination  and  licensing  of  persons  practising 
various  trades.  Among  the  occupations  are  those  of  barbers, 
horseshoers,  plumbers,  stationary  firemen  and  engineers, 
steam  and  street  railway  employees,  and  certain  classes  of 
mine  workers.  These  requirements,  which  possibly  grow  out 
of  the  decay  of  the  apprenticeship  system,  increase  the  demand 
for  school  training.  In  some  respects  this  tendency  appears 
to  be  a  recrudescence  of  the  old  method  of  granting  a  monop- 
oly to  those  who  have  attained  a  certain  proficiency.  If  the 
state  establishes  a  minimum  requirement  for  entrance  into 
certain  trades,  it  is  certainly  the  duty  of  the  public  school 
authorities  to  offer  adequate  opportunities  for  obtaining  the 
legally  requisite  knowledge  and  training. 

Vocational  Education.  The  great  importance  of  vocational 
education  is  now  appreciated  by  nearly  all  classes  of  people. 
*'The  universal  interest  in  this  subject  warrants  the  con- 
clusion that  its  proper  solution  is  of  paramount  importance 
to  the  welfare  of  the  Nation,  in  order  to  establish  that  kind 
of  education  which  will  enable  the  boys  and  girls  of  the  United 
States  to  enter  upon  their  industrial  life  properly  equipped 


INDUSTRIAL  AND  TRADE  EDUCATION 


529 


/ 


to  make  their  lives  a  success."  ^  Vocational  education  is 
as  much  a  part  of  public  education  as  is  any  portion  of  the 
traditional  curriculum.  Boys  and  girls  forced  into  industry 
at  an  early  age  should  be  given  the  opportunity  to  obtain 
the  sort  of  instruction  which  will  make  them  trained  workers 
in  their  chosen  trade  or  occupation.  The  public  school 
system  in  a  democracy  should  prepare  workers  for  all  the 
walks  and  duties  of  life.  Public  industrial  schools  may, 
indeed,  prove  to  be  "  the  twentieth  century  substitute  for  free 
land."  If  the  government  was  justified  in  donating  a  home- 
stead to  the  actual  settler,  surely  it  is  now  justified  in  offering 
free  of  tuition,  a  good,  practical  training  of  mind,  body,  and 
hands,  in  offering  to  prepare  the  youth  of  all  classes  for  lives  of 
useful  endeavor.  A  fundamental  difficulty  in  connection  with 
trade  instruction  is  ''found  in  the  great  diversity  of  trades, 
each  of  which  would  require  a  separate  school "  or  at  least  many 
separate  classes.  However,  certain  elements  of  likeness  can 
be  found  underlying  many  apparently  dissimilar  trades. 

The  Federal  vocational  Education  Act  of  191 7  is  a  token  of 
the  growing  interest  in  vocational  education.  Under  this 
act  the  federal  government  undertakes  to  stimulate  through 
subsidies  the  development  of  schools  teaching  vocational 
subjects.  The  acceptance  of  federal  grants  by  a  state  im- 
poses certain  obligations  in  regard  to  the  scope  and  char- 
acter of  the  vocational  training  provided.  Federal  funds 
are  only  granted  to  public  institutions.  Under  the  law 
three  kinds  of  vocational  education  may  exist:  —  all-day 
schools,  part-time  schools,  and  evening  classes.  "Part-time 
instruction  is  intended  for  employed  minors  over  14  years 
of  age.  It  may  be  a  trade-extension  course  which  is  merely 
supplemental  to  the  trade  or  industrial  pursuit  in  which  the 
minor  is  employed;  it  may  be  a  preparation  for  a  trade 
entirely  different  from  the  one  in  which  he  is  earning  a  living; 

^  Report  of  Commission  on  Industrial  Relations  (1916),  p.  255. 


I''" 


I'i.  * 


■i 


530    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

or  it  may  be  of  a  general  character  suited  to  the  development 
of  the  civic  and  vocational  intelligence  of  the  young  worker. 
In  any  case  these  schools  and  classes  must  be  operated  for  at 
least  144  hours  every  year  during  the  hours  of  regular  employ- 
ment. The  instruction  in  the  trade  courses  may  consist  of 
actual  experience  in  the  shop,  of  theory  related  to  the  processes 
taught,  or  of  both  so  arranged  as  to  divide  the  time  between 
the  two."  ^  In  some  states  the  time  spent  in  attendance  at 
a  part-time  school  is  construe4  to  be  a  part  of  a  minor's 
lawful  employment,  and  wages  are  received  for  school  at- 
tendance. 

An  interesting  experiment  in  vocational  training  is  being 
tried  in  the  public  schools  of  Little  Rock,  Arkansas.  The 
typographical  union  is  cooperating  with  the  school  authorities. 
An  agreement  has  been  drawn  up  providing  for  the  employ- 
ment of  boys  as  part-time  apprentices  in  the  printing  shops 
of  the  city.  The  student-apprentice  attends  school  for  five 
half-days  each  week  and  works  six  half-days.  A  ratio  of 
apprentices  to  journeymen  of  one  to  five  is  maintained. 
An  advisory  committee  consisting  of  two  members  of  the 
typographical  imion,  two  employing  printers,  and  the  super- 
intendent of  schools,  has  been  organized  for  the  purpose  of 
cooperating  with  the  school  authorities.^  A  "Trade  Union 
College"  was  opened  in  19 19  by  the  Boston  Central  Labor 
Union.  The  work  is  offered  at  night  in  such  subjects  as 
English,  economics,  government,  law  and  physics. 

In  several  cities  tentative  schemes  looking  toward  vocational 
guidance  have  been  evolved.  Vocational  guidance  should 
not  be  considered  as  a  means  of  choosing  an  occupation  or  of 
finding  a  place  for  a  school  boy  or  girl.  The  aim  should  be 
to  lead  the  young  people  and  their  parents  to  consider  the 
matter,  to  ascertain  the  tastes  and  capacities  of  the  individual, 

*  Monthly  Labor  Review,  April,  1920,  p.  135. 

*  Monthly  Labor  Review,  November,  1919,  p.  224, 


INDUSTRIAL  AND  TRADE  EDUCATION 


531 


\ 


to  obtain  data  as  to  the  prospects  in  various  trades  or  occu- 
pations, and  to  aid  in  taking  the  necessary  steps  in  obtaining 
adequate  preparation. 

Industrial  Education.  Manual  training  was  first  intro- 
duced into  our  high  schools  and  has  gradually  worked  its  way 
downward  into  the  grades.  The  purpose  of  manual  training, 
as  such,  is  pedagogical  rather  than  vocational;  but  the  intro- 
duction of  this  work  into  the  ward  and  high  schools  of  our 
cities  provides  an  excellent  foundation  for  vocational  training. 
The  first  American  manual  high  training  school  was  opened 
in  St.  Louis  in  188 1.  A  more  recent  development  is  the 
"technical  high  school."  The  technical  high  school  empha- 
sizes vocational  training  in  a  much  larger  measure  than  does 
the  manual  training  high  school.  Its  distinct  purpose  is  the 
preparation  of  "its  pupils  for  industrial  leadership,  —  that 
is,  for  positions  in  industrial  Hfe  requiring  skill  and  technical 
knowledge,  and  of  greater  importance  and  responsibility  than 
those  of  skilled  mechanics."  The  Cleveland  Technical  High 
School  is  one  of  the  best  examples  of  this  type  of  school.  The 
school  is  open  to  both  boys  and  girls.  The  course  is  four 
years  in  length.  The  first  two  years  are  devoted  to  manual 
training  and  "general  industrial  intelligence."  Upon  com- 
pleting the  work  of  the  first  two  years,  the  student  is  expected 
to  select  a  trade.  The  trades  offered  in  1909  were  cabinet 
making,  pattern  making  and  foundry  practice,  machine-shop 
practice,  architectural  and  mechanical  drawing,  printing  and 
bookbinding,  pottery,  and  applied  designed  millinery,  catering 
and  cooking.  The  school  is  in  session  forty-eight  weeks  in 
the  year.  Evening  classes  for  workers  in  different  trades  are 
also  conducted. 

Correspondence  and  Night  Schools.  Only  a  small  fraction 
of  the  boys  and  girls  of  our  country  graduate  from  high  school. 
Many  leave  school  and  go  into  industry  at  an  early  age.  The 
public  school  stands  ready  to  help  the  boy  or  girl  who  is  not 


•i 


m 


i'^  * 


532    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

obliged  to  work  at  an  early  age;  but  the  benefits  of  free  public 
instruction  are  rarely  offered  the  young  worker.  Many  of 
•  these  workers  are  aware  of  the  desirability  of  more  instruc- 
tion and  training,  but  the  school  door  swings  shut  before  the 
day's  work  in  shop,  store,  or  office  is  completed.  Our  public 
school  authorities  apparently  overlook  the  needs  of  the  young 
wage  earner.  We  have  the  buildings  and  the  equipment;  but 
in  nearly  all  the  cities  the  school  property  is  unused  during 
the  latter  part  of  the  afternoon  and  during  the  evening. 
Private  agencies  —  the  private  night  school,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
night  school,  and  the  correspondence  school  —  have  come  into 
being  to  supply  a  demand  for  practical  or  vocational  training 
which  unfortunately  our  public  schools  rarely  attempt  to 
fill.  These  institutions  are  more  or  less  successfully  and 
faithfully  offering  trade,  industrial,  scientific,  and  commercial 
education  to  the  ambitious  young  wage  earners.  The  con- 
tinuation school  for  young  workers,  and,  if  necessary,  corre- 
spondence instruction  should  be  provided  as  an  integral  part 
of  our  public  school  work.  The  University  of  Wisconsin  aims 
to  give  instruction  to  "anybody,  anywhere,  anytime."  This 
should  be  the  mission  of  our  public  educational  system  which 
reaches  from  the  kindergarten  to  the  graduate  and  pro- 
fessional courses  of  the  state  university.  Under  present 
conditions  in  industry  —  the  long  working  day  and  the 
high  tension  under  which  many  labor  —  many  workers  are 
unfitted  for  night  school  instruction.  With  the  introduction 
of  an  eight-  or  a  nine-hour  day,  the  force  of  this  objection  to 
night  instruction  is  diminished.  If  the  custom  of  allowing  a 
half-holiday  each  week  is  generally  adopted,  another  oppor- 
tunity for  school  work  is  offered.  A  square  deal  in  the  matter 
of  education  means  an  opportunity  for  vocational  and  cul- 
tural training  for  all  young  persons,  whether  wage  earners 
or  not.  It  is  an  unjustifiable  discrimination  to  oblige  the 
young  worker  to  pay  tuition  to  a  private  school  in  order 


INDUSTRL\L  AND  TRADE  EDUCATION 


533 


to  obtain  the  kind  of  training  which  is  valuable  to  him  as  a 
wage  earner  and  a  craftsman.  No  educational  system  which 
does  not  reach  the  young  toiler  as  well  as  those  who  are 
not  forced  into  industry  at  an  early  age  is  worthy  of  a  high 
rank  in  the  present  era. 

The  Conflict  of  Ideals  in  Regard  to  Industrial  Education. 
The  chief  standards  for  the  measurement  of  educational 
values  are  four  in  number  —  practical,  cultural,  psychologi- 
cal, and  social.  The  practical  standard  is  important  because 
of  the  demand  for  trained  and  efficient  workers  in  business 
and  professional  life.  Commercial,  trade,  industrial,  agricul- 
tural, and  professional  training  are  grouped  under  the  head 
of  practical  education.  Today  the  emphasis  is  placed  upon 
trade  and  commercial  education;  but  professional  training 
for  the  law,  theology,  medicine,  and  pedagogy  was  in  former 
generations  the  most  important  of  the  practical  work  of  the 
educational  system. 

The  prestige  which  still  surrounds  the  cultural  and  classical 
form  of  education  is  purely  traditional,  and  is  based  in  a  large 
measure  upon  class  prejudice.  The  cultural  form  of  modern 
education  was  formerly  the  practical;  it  was  once  a  part  of  the 
necessary  training  of  the  professional  man.  By  a  curious^ 
but  not  unusual,  process  of  slow  evolution  it  is  now  esteemed 
because  it  bestows  upon  its  possessors  ideals  and  mannerisms 
which  are  distinctly  opposite  to  those  of  present  day  practical 
education.  Modern  cultural  or  classical  training  is  an  out- 
grown, out-of-date  form  of  practical  education.  The  effect 
of  such  training  is  to  carry  old  ideals,  habits  of  thought,  and 
class  demarcations  down  into  modern  industrial  society.  It 
leads  to  conservatism  and  tends  to  focus  the  mind  upon 
problems  which  do  not  directly  and  \itally  touch  modern 
and  complex  life. 

Modern  psychological  study  and  inveitigation  show  that 
a  certain  variety  and  sequence  of  training  are  necessary  in 


pi 


I: 


I**  ' 


I 


534    HISTORY  AND   PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

order  that  each  and  every  individual  may  develop  his  maxi- 
mum mental  and  manual  ability.  The  psychological  demand 
is  for  a  well-rounded  development  of  the  student.  The  social 
criterion  for  educational  efficiency  is  based  upon  the  demo- 
cratic demand  for  good  citizenship  and  for  racial  efficiency. 
It  places  a  high  valuation  upon  that  which  tends  to  break 
down  class  demarcation,  to  reduce  artificial  inequality,  and 
to  uplift  the  human  race  as  a  whole. 

Up  to  a  recent  date,  business  interests  have  emphasized  the 
importance  of  the  purely  practical  standard.  They  have 
desired  that  students  in  our  public  schools  be  equipped  to  fit 
into  some  definite  place  in  the  factory,  store  or  office.  But 
along  with  employment  management  and  shop  committees 
has  come  a  new  concept  of  the  ideal  worker.  The  forward- 
looking  business  man  of  today  is  discarding  the  idea  that, 
except  for  a  few  skilled  men,  the  worker  should  be  a  plodding, 
unthinking  and  narrowly  trained  piece  of  human  machinery. 
The  so-called  educational  and  social  reformers  and  the  leaders 
and  thinkers  among  organized  labor  are  urging  the  importance 
of  the  psychological  and  social  demands.  These  interests 
Stand  firmly  for  the  view  that  the  school  system  of  today  is 
for  the  training  of  thinking,  as  well  as  of  working,  men  and 
women.  Organized  labor  demands  that  the  vocational 
training  of  the  schools  shall  ''make  the  apprentice  or  graduate 
a  skilled  craftsman  in  all  branches  of  his  trade."  They  also 
object  to  ''conditions  which  educate  the  student  or  apprentice 
to  non-union  sympathy  and  prepare  him  as  a  skilled  worker 
for  scab  labor  and  strike-breaking  purposes,  thus  using  the 
children  of  the  workers  against  the  interests  of  their  organized 
fathers  and  brothers  in  the  various  crafts."  In  short,  organ- 
ized labor  demands  vocational  education  in  the  public  schools 
and  under  the  direct  control  of  the  public  school  authorities. 
They  object  to  anything  which  savors  of  control  or  super- 
vision by  employers  of  labor.    The  antagonism  between  the 


INDUSTRIAL  AND  TRADE  EDUCATION 


535 


J* 


adherents  of  the  social  and  of  the  practical  educational  stand- 
ards is  very  noticeable.  The  university  and  the  college  have 
not  been  free  from  influences  which  would  restrict  the  work 
of  investigation  and  bias  the  teaching  of  these  institutions. 
The  United  States  is  now  standing  near  the  forks  in  the 
educational  road.  Fundamentally,  the  problem  is  one  of  edu- 
cational and  social  ideals  and  values.  Organized  labor  has 
much  at  stake;  and  recent  events  indicate  that  the  problems 
centering  around  vocational  training  will  not  be  neglected 
by  our  labor  organizations. 


REFERENCES   FOR  FURTHER  READING 

Wright,  "The  Apprenticeship  System  in  its  Relation  to  Industrial 
Education,"  Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Education.    Whole  No.  389  (1908). 

The  Seventeenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor.  "Trade  and 
Technical  Education." 

The  Twenty-fifth  A  nnual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor. 

Commons,  Trade  Unionism  and  Labor  Problems.     Ch.  13. 

Carlton,  Education  and  hidustrial  Evolution.     Chs.  10,  11,  12,  and  15. 

Report  of  the  Committee  mi  the  Place  of  Industries  in  Public  Ejiucation. 
National  Education  Association  (1910). 

Reports  of  the  Massachusetts  Commission  on  Industrial  Education. 

Stephens,  "The  New  Apprenticeship,"  Journal  of  Political  Economy. 
Vol.  19:  26-35. 

Bolen,  Getting  A  Living.     Ch.  11. 

"Industrial  Education,"  Open  Shop  Review,  June,  1919. 

Annual  Reports  of  Federal  Board  for  Vocational  Education. 

Monthly  Labor  Review,  April,  1920,  pp.  133  ff. 

Report  of  Commission  on  Industrial  Relations,  pp.  255-261. 

Henry,  The  Trade  Union  Woman. 

Carlton,  The  Progressive  Journal  of  Education,  April,  1909,  and 
September  15,  1909. 


RECENT    TENDENCIES 


537 


ii 


>s 


r-i 


t , 


CHAPTER   XIX 


RECENT    TENDENCIES 


The  Significance  oj  Industrial  Unionism.  The  future  status 
of  labor  organizations  will  depend  upon  industrial  and  politi- 
cal progress.  The  trend  of  events  in  the  past  and  present 
may  furnish  aid  in  discerning  in  a  general  way  the  direction 
in  which  we  are  moving.  A  study  of  industrial  and  social 
evolution  provides  some  reasonable  foundation  for  a  tentative 
discussion  of  the  present  tendencies  affecting  the  relations 
existing  between  labor,  capital,  and  the  general  public.  The 
evolution  of  political  authority  since  the  fall  of  the  Roman 
Empire  has  been  carefully  studied  by  historians  and  publicists. 
Lagging  behind  in  the  shadow  of  this  development  is  a  some- 
what similar  transformation  in  industrial  affairs.  The  latter 
movement  is  less  spectacular,  and  up  to  recent  times  has  never 
attracted  much  attention.  In  their  political  evolution  the 
most  progressive  Western  nations  have  passed  from  ex- 
ploitative, barbarian-warrior  control  to  absolute  centralized 
management,  on  to  the  admission  of  the  commercial  and 
manufacturing  interests  to  participation  in  governmental  func- 
tions, to  the  use  of  the  constitutional  form  of  government,  and 
finally  to  the  modem  democracy  with  its  broad  suffrage 
provisions.  A  similar  evolution  may  be  traced  in  the  realm 
of  religion  and  in  the  family  life.  The  industrial  world  is  the 
last  stronghold  of  the  despotic  principle. 

The  days  of  the  mercantile  system  and  the  preceding  epochs 
may  be  said  to  constitute  the  ancient  industrial  world.  The 
gild  system,  with  its  master  workmen,  journeymen,  and 
apprentices,  was  a  sort  of  industrial  feudalism.     Gunpowder 

536 


1' 


was  fatal  to  the  feudal  regime;  and  the  steam  engine  doomed 
industrial  feudalism.  After  incessant  struggles  political 
feudalism  finally  gave  way  to  the  centralized  autocracy  typi- 
fied by  Louis  XIV  and  Frederick  the  Great.  In  the  industrial 
world,  after  the  advent  of  the  wonder-working  steam  engine, 
multitudes  of  small,  competing  businesses  of  short  and  un- 
certain life  are  found.  A  period  of  speculation,  fierce  compe- 
tition, personal  rivalry,  and  economic  uncertainty  followed. 
Gradually,  with  more  or  less  friction  evinced  by  strikes,  agi- 
tations, and  so-called  reform  movements,  conditions  became 
more  and  more  stable;  some  enterprises  grew  larger,  others, 
ruined  or  absorbed,  disappeared.  The  large  corporation, 
commonly  called  the  trust,  rose  above  the  business  horizon, 
and  the  market  area  expanded  until  its  eastern  and  western 
frontiers  met  in  the  Orient  and  the  Pacific  isles.  Business 
concerns  are  no  longer  ephemeral;  they  continue  from  genera- 
tion to  generation.  Business  is  now  placed  upon  a  firm  and 
calculable  basis;  the  traditional  rule-of -thumb  methods  and 
blind  optimism  have  vanished.  The  economic  middle  ages 
are  left  behind,  and  the  period  of  industrial  nationalism  is  at 
hand.  Strongly  centralized  absolutism  in  industry  is  now  a 
characteristic  of  the  business  world.  Vanderbilt's  famous 
utterance  is  but  a  paraphrase  of  that  more  famous  dictum  of 
Louis  XIV.  The  captains  of  industry  are  the  industrial 
analogues  of  the  enlightened  despots  in  the  political  world 
of  the  eighteenth  century. 

The  kings  of  the  Middle  Ages  and  of  the  early  portion  of 
the  modern  period  considered  their  possessions  and  peoples  as 
a  large  estate  to  be  worked  purely  and  solel]^  for  the  benefit  of 
the  royal  few;  during  the  similar  period  in  the  industrial  evo- 
lution of  the  Western  nations  the  heads  of  business  enter- 
prises look  solely  to  their  own  profits.  In  the  first  case,  the 
view  that  government  is  for  the  welfare  of  the  governed  was 
not  attained;  in  the  other,  the  idea  that  business  should  be 


I; 


li 


H  i 

I  "I 


S38    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

carried  on  for  the  benefit  of  men  in  their  double  capacity  of 
workers  and  consumers  has  not  found  a  firm  foothold.    Faint 
glimpses  of  emergence  from  industrial  absolutism  are  noticed 
m  factory  legislation,  child  labor  laws,  pure  food  bills,  the 
demand  for  governmental  regulation  of  trusts  and  for  gov- 
ernmental arbitration  in  labor  disputes.    Gradually  in  the 
political  world  the  masses  of  the  people  wrested  authority 
from  the  hands  of  the  kings,  and  constitutional  forms  of 
government  were  established.    The  king  was  no  longer  the 
state,  and  the  kingdom  his  private  estate.     The  kings  in 
their  opposition  to  the  feudal  lords  fostered  the  commercial 
and  mdustrial  classes  which  later  stripped  the  former  of  much 
of  their  authority;  and  the  foreshadowing  of  a  similar  phe- 
nomenon may  easily  be  recognized  in  the  industrial  field  in 
recent  decades.     The  autocratic  monarch  of  the  fifteenth 
sixteenth,  or  seventeenth  centuries  was  able  to   build   his 
governmental  structure  by  undermining  the  strength  of  the 
feudal  barons;  the  modem  captains  of  industry  have  forced 
the  small  capitaUsts  to  the  wall  and  have  reared  their  pow- 
erful industrial  edifices  upon  the  ruins  of  many  small  con- 
cerns.   The  trust  has  triumphed  over  the  small  business-  but 
m  so  doing  it  has  multipUed  the  number  of  wage  earners 
and   has   improved   their   quaUty.      Multitudes  who  under 
former  conditions  would  have  eagerly  looked  forward  to  busi- 
ness careers  as  entrepreneurs   must   now  be  content  with 
the  more  prosaic  positions  offered   the  employees  of  large 
corporations.    The  fact  that  workers  camiot,  with  a  few  con- 
spicuous exceptions,  become  employers  is  cementing  them 
together  and  will,  give  them  power  to  prevent  encroachments 
upon  what  is  conceived  to  be  their  rights.    Changed  eco- 
nomic conditions  are  forcing  certain  classes  of  technical  and 
professional  workers  into  unionism  or  into  an  attitude  favor- 
able to  union  action.     For  example,  the  tendency  toward 
commerciahzation  of  school  management  is  forcing  "union- 


RECENT  TENDENCIES 


539 


ization"  of  the  school  teachers  in  self-defense.  Centralization 
of  power  and  of  wealth  in  the  industrial  field  is  building  up 
opposition  to  itself  in  obedience  to  the  law  that  action  and 
reaction  are  equal  and  opposite  in  direction.  Trusts  and 
large  corporations  reduce  the  relative  number  of  employers 
and  small  business  men,  and  increase  the  relative  number 
of  employees.  The  latter  band  together  and,  as  labor  organ- 
izations, demand  a  larger  share  of  the  increased  earnings 
due  to  the  economy  of  large-scale  industry.  The  captain 
of  industry  will  probably  share  the  fate  of  the  autocratic 
monarch.  The  Louis  XIV  view  of  business  is  being  gradually 
replaced  by  the  democratic  constitutional  form.  The  em- 
ployee and  the  general  public  are  being  gradually  admitted 
into  the  councils  of  industry.  A  manager  may  no  longer 
do  exactly  as  he  pleases  in  business  management.  The 
industrial  world  is  actually  emerging,  as  did  the  political 
world,  from  its  era  of  autocracy. 

Union  men  assert  that  they  have  the  right  to  be  factors 
in  fixing  the  conditions  under  which  they  shall  labor.  They 
are  demanding  a  measure  of  self-rule  and  self-direction  in  the 
industrial  world.  The  general  pubhc  is  extending  its  control 
over  the  industrial  field  by  means  of  legislation  and  by  means 
of  judicial  decisions  which  extend  the  police  power  of  the 
state.  A  dim  and  indistinct  ideal  of  a  form  of  industrial 
democracy  is  beginning  to  be  outlined  in  public  opinion.  The 
occasional  pronunciamentos  of  certain  employers  sound  to 
many  almost  medieval  in  tone.  ^' There  is  nothing  to  arbi- 
trate," "We  intend  to  be  masters  in  our  own  houses,"  and 
"  It  is  regrettable  that  our  workpeople  are  able  to  change  their 
positions  at  any  time,"  sound  strangely  in  the  ears  of  the 
average  man  and  woman  of  today.  Exactly  as  our  fore- 
fathers sought  to  break  down  absolutism  in  government,  the 
labor  unions  of  today  seek  through  governmental  interference 
and  organized  strength  to  break  down  absolutism  in  the 


*! 


•  ! 


'  i 


J 


\ 


540    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

industrial  sphere.  The  significance  of  the  present  struggles 
between  labor  and  capital  is  only  clearly  seen  when  looked  at 
from  this  point  of  view. 

A  movement  fraught  with  great  significance  for  our  nat- 
ional Ufe  and  our  industrial  progress  is  the  rise  and  growth  of 
industrial   unions.     These   organizations  must   be  carefully 
distinguished  from  the  older  and  better  known  trade  unions 
which  were  modeled  in  some  measure  after  the  fashion  of  the 
EngUsh  unions.    In  the  industrial  union  the  unskilled  man  — 
the  man  who  tends  the  machine  or  who  works  in  the  gang, 
the  wage  earner  who  is  known  by  his  number  —  comes  to  the 
front.  ^  The  unskilled  man  is  an  interchangeable  link  in  a 
gigantic  industrial  chain;  his  work  approximates  that  of  the 
machine,  and  from  time  to  time  the  machine  does  encroach 
upon  his  round  of  duty.     The  skilled  man  or  artisan  is  dis- 
tinguished by  greater  individuaHty  and  personal  initiative. 
While  the  tendency  in  recent  times  is  in  many  cases,  particu- 
lariy  among  the  lower  ranks  of  the  skilled,  toward  uniform- 
ity of  work  and  wage,  we  may  yet  distinguish  more  or  less 
cleariy  between  the  two.    Le  Bon,  the  French  sociologist, 
distinguishes  between  these  two  classes  in  a  striking  manner! 
"The  artisan  advances  only  by  merit,  the  employe  by  seniority. 
The  employe  is  only  of  significance  through  the  whole  of  which 
he  is  a  part.    The  artisan  represents  a  unit  having  a  value  of 
itself."     The  psychology  of  the  two  classes  is  different.     The 
trade  union  is  dominated  by  the  skilled  man;  but  the  new 
industrial  unionism  places  the  key  to  the  situation  in  the 
hands  of  the  unskilled.     Professor  Veblen  asserts  that  all 
those  engaged  in  modern  industrial  or  scientific  work  are 
especially  Hable  to  be  affected  by  sociaHstic  sentiments;  but 
the  feeling  of  solidarity  is  stronger  among  the  unskilled  than 
among  the  skilled.    When  the  labor  unions  succumb  to  the 
leadership  of  the  unskilled,  as  inevitably  they  must,  a  new 
era  in  unionism  will  be  just  ahead;  and  its  results  may  indeed 


RECENT  TENDENCIES 


541 


be  momentous.  Such  a  change  will  be  nothing  less  than  the 
natural  and  logical  result  of  the  steadily  increasing  standard- 
ization of  industry  and  the  minute  subdivision  of  labor  with 
its  accompanying  increase  in  the  number  of  the  unskilled 
which  the  census  reports  so  plainly  and  unmistakably 
indicate.^ 

With  the  standardization,  unification,  and  centralization  of 
industry  comes  the  possibility  of  bureaucratic  control.  Rou- 
tine and  red-tape  begin  to  replace  experimentation  and  indi- 
vidual initiative.  The  number  of  the  unskilled  increases,  and 
the  skilled  begin  to  advance  by  seniority  rather  than  by  merit. 
Business  methods  begin  to  savor  of  the  tread-mill  and  the 
lock-step.  Business  and  industrial  life,  from  bottom  to  top, 
tends  to  lose  the  charm  of  freshness  and  unexpectedness 
which  formerly  characterized  it.  With  this  change  in  indus- 
trial and  business  procedure  and  with  the  reduction  in  the 
length  of  the  working  day  comes  a  modification  in  the  use  of 
leisure  time.  Now  arise  the  cheap  theater,  the  nickelodeon, 
physical  culture,  the  yellow  newspaper  with  its  sensationalism, 
the  Coney  Islands,  the  club,  the  new  status  of  woman,  and 
modem  socialism.  The  development  of  the  play  side  of  our 
nature  suddenly  attracts  nation-wide  attention.  Our  surplus 
energy  —  the  desire  for  sensation,  change,  excitement  — 
should  be  turned  into  other  channels  than  those  which  lead 
to  sensuality  and  debauchery.  This  can  only  be  done  by 
broadening  the  interests  of  the  masses  of  the  people,  by  op- 
p>osing  the  narrowed  industrial  and  home  life  with  the  love  of 
art,  athletics,  political  affairs,  literary  studies,  and  the  like. 
The  rise  of  the  industrial  union  is  the  flaming  signal  which 
informs  the  nation  that  a  new  industrial  situation  confronts  it. 

Adult  male  suffrage  in  the  United  States  was  achieved 
principally  by  the  men  of  the  frontier  and  the  workers  in  the 

*  For  a  diflierent  interpretation,  see  Ely,  OtUlines  of  Economics  (revised 
edition),  pp.  133-134. 


) 

.Li 


N  I 


Yd 


j  ■ 


542     HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

newly-born  industrial  cities,  —  men  who  were  diametrically 
opposed  in  interests  and  views  of  life  to  the  aristocratic  con- 
servatives and  trained  political  leaders  of  Massachusetts  and 
Virginia.    The  movement  in  the  industrial  field  will  come, 
not  from  the  skilled  men  who  stand  close  to  the  leaders  and 
directors  of  our  industries,  but  from  that  industrial  frontiers- 
man, the  unskilled  or  common  workman.     He  is  beginning  to 
understand  the  value  of  unionism;  solidarity  is  becoming  con- 
crete and  tangible  to  him.     It  seems  safe  to  prophesy  that  the 
members  of  the  industrial  unions  will,  in  the  not  distant 
future,  be  found  entering  the  pohtical  arena  as  a  unit  for 
certain  fundamental  demands.     The  industrial  unionists  will 
soon  learn  to  disregard  obsolete  and  illusory  party  lines.     Our 
great  industrial  cities  seem  destined  to  stand  in  the  forefront 
of  the  movement  toward  some  form  of  industrial  democracy. 
Trade  autonomy  and  industrial  autonomy  are  essentially 
antagonistic;  but  industrial  unionism  and  trade  unionism  are 
not  necessarily  antagonistic  to  each  other.  Industrial  and  trade 
unions  might  exist  side  by  side,  and  for  complete  and  effect- 
ive organization  both  seem  to  be  necessary.    The  United  Mine 
Workers,  for  example,  should  control  all  mine  workers;  but  the 
stationary  engineers  ought  also  to  belong  to  a  trade  union  of 
engineers.    At  least  two  reasons  may  be  presented  to  support 
this  contention,     (i)  An  engineer  belonging  to  a  trade  union 
may  readily  pass  from  the  mining  industry  to  some  other.    He 
is  still  a  member  of  his  trade  union,  but  he  will  transfer  from 
one  industrial  union  to  another,  as  changes  in  the  labor  market 
may  indicate.     If  he  is  only  an  industrial  unionist,  he  cannot 
readily  seek  employment  outside  the  mining  industry.    (2)  In 
the  event  of  a  strike  in  the  mining  industry  union  engineers 
will  not  take  the  place  of  those  on  a  strike  if  all  engineers 
belong  to  the  same  trade  union.    The  case  of  the  brewery 
workers  and  the  teamsters  is  a  parallel  one.    Considering  the 
increasing  intricacy  and  solidification  in  the  field  of  organized 


RECENT    TENDENCIES 


543 


capital,  the  conclusion  is  that  the  industrial  unions  organized 
in  the  large  industries,  such  as  mining,  will  be  forced  to  "act 
closely  with  the  unions  of  many  trades,  and  that  the  unions 
of  all  trades  must  cooperate  with  those  of  many  indus- 
tries."^ The  building  trades  councils  in  various  cities 
preserve  trade  organizations,  but  aflSliate  together  as  an 
industrial  group. 

Political  Activity.  The  experiences  of  the  labor  organiza- 
tions of  last  century  that  went  into  pohtics  were  disastrous. 
The  labor  movement  of  the  twenties  was  wrecked  by  the 
workingmen's  parties  of  1828  to  183 1.  The  labor  parties  of 
the  early  seventies  were  not  notably  successful.  The  Knights 
of  Labor  suffered  because  of  dabbling  in  politics.  Labor 
organizations  have  found  their  chief  work  to  be  in  securing 
immediate  benefits  from  their  employer  in  the  shape  of  higher 
wages  and  better  working  conditions.  For  a  labor  organiza- 
tion to  enter  the  political  field  signifies  that  it  must  turn  aside 
from  the  work  in  which  its  successes  have  been  scored  and 
enter  a  new  field.  Political  action  brings  in  slower  returns  and 
benefits  which  are  more  widely  distributed. 

If  labor  is  to  become  an  important  poUtical  force  in  America 
as  it  has  in  England  and  Australia,  what  are  the  incident  forces 
which  will  be  chiefly  responsible  for  wrenching  labor  organiza- 
tions out  of  the  grooves  of  business  unionism  into  the  broader 
track  of  political  action?  The  entrance  of  labor  organizations 
into  the  political  field  signifies  that  the  feeling  of  solidarity 
of  interests  between  different  classes  of  unionists  is  growing, 
and  that  the  old  business  policies  involving  wage  bargaining, 
local  strikes,  and  boycotts  are  losing  their  potency.  An 
increase  in  solidarity  may  be  the  result  of  the  increased  prom- 
inence of  the  machine  and  of  the  subdivision  of  labor  which 
knits  the  interests  of  the  skilled  and  unskilled  closer  together; 
or  it  may  be  due  to  the  rising  tide  of  opposition  to  labor 
1  Walling,  "The  New  Unionism,"  Annals.    Vol.  24  :  314. 


bv  ' 


M  i 


544    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

organizations  growing  directly  out  of  the  efforts  of  employers' 
associations.  The  effectiveness  of  the  old  line  of  business 
policies  has  also  been  impaired  by  the  knitting  together  of 
capital  into  trusts  and  associations  which  present  a  united 
front  to  labor,  and  by  recent  court  decisions  which  have  in  a 
measure  reduced  the  value  of  the  strike  and  of  the  boycott  as 
weapons  in  the  hands  of  organized  labor.  Every  hard  blow 
delivered  against  unionism  by  organized  capital  helps  to  turn 
the  eyes  of  workingmen  toward  the  political  field. 

The  wage  earners  are  not  represented  in  Congress  or  in  the 
state  legislatures  in  proportion  to  their  numerical  strength, 
and  many  of  their  "friends"  among  the  old  party  representa- 
tives do  not  always  vote  for  the  measures  demanded  by  organ- 
ized labor.     In  recent  years  the  ''labor  lobby"  has  scored 
many   failures,    and   leaders   of   the   anti-union   employers' 
associations  have  openly  boasted  of  their  political  influence. 
In  many  industrial  centers  the  workingmen  cast  a  large  frac- 
tion of  the  total  vote.     A  labor  party  which  actually  obtained 
a  large  percentage  of  the  labor  vote  could  place  its  candidates 
in  the  legislature  of  ever>^  important  industrial  state  of  the 
union  and  could  also  elect  a  few  members  of  the  House  of 
Representatives.     A  comparatively  small  number  of  ardent 
labor  men  in  legislative  halls  could  do  much  to  further  the 
interests  of  labor.     The  latent  political  power  of  labor  is  con- 
siderable.    A  labor  party,  socialistic  or  otherwise,  is  certain 
to  appear  soon  after  the  average  union  man  is  thoroughly 
convinced    that    the   old    line    business    unionism   has   met 
obstacles   which  it  cannot   surmount.    When  the  laboring 
men  are  convinced  that  immediate  results  cannot  be  obtained 
through  trade-union  action,  they  will  adopt  new  policies  and 
emphasize  new  ideals;  but  as  long  as  their  union  can  raise 
their  wages  and  improve  working  conditions,  they  will  be 
content  to  vote  the  old  party  ticket. 

While  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  has  for  years 


RECENT  TENDENCIES 


545 


advised  their  members,  in  a  perfunctory  manner,  to  vote  for 
their  friends  regardless  of  party  lines,  until  1906,  beyond  main- 
taining a  lobby  at  Washington  and  at  certain  state  capitals, 
it  took  little  part  in  political  activities.  In  that  year  the 
executive  council  issued  a  campaign  program  for  the  purpose 
of  removing  "all  forms  of  political  servitude  and  party  sla- 
very." The  executive  council  demanded  the  defeat  of  all 
candidates  who  were  hostile  or  indifferent  to  the  interests  of 
labor.  In  case  both  parties  nominated  such  men,  it  was  urged 
that  a  third  candidate  be  placed  in  the  field.  In  the 
presidential  campaign  of  1908  President  Gompers  actively 
endeavored  to  induce  the  workingmen  to  support  the  demo- 
cratic ticket,  and  he  estimated  that  about  eighty  per  cent,  of 
votes  of  organized  labor  were  cast  as  recommended  by  the 
Federation.  The  conservative  leaders  of  the  American  Fed- 
eration of  Labor  are  apparently  convinced  that  state  aid  is 
necessary,  or  at  least  extremely  desirable,  to  support  purely 
trade-union  activity. 

A  strong  and  fairly  permanent  labor  party  cannot  come 
into  existence  until  the  workers  in  the  various  trades  and 
industries  have  faced  sufficient  opposition  to  force  them  to 
recognize  the  significance  of  the  phrase  "the  solidarity  of 
labor,"  or  until  the  necessity  of  "united  working-class  action" 
is  clearly  demonstrated  by  the  failure  of  the  traditional 
imion  methods.  As  long  as  free  land  existed,  as  long  as  the 
most  capable  and  ambitious  employees  hoped  to  become  em- 
ployers or  high-salaried  officials,  or  as  long  as  the  old  line 
business  unionism  continues  to  be  fairly  successful,  organized 
labor  may  not  be  expected  to  enter  the  political  arena  as  a 
unified  body.  Mr.  Gompers'  attempt  in  1908  to  swing  the 
labor  vote  to  Mr.  Bryan  was  apparently  a  failure;  but 
the  bitter  opposition  of  large  employers'  associations  and  the 
antagonistic  court  decisions  are  forcing  the  unionists  to  further 
consider  the  advisability  of  political  action.    The  traditional 


111 


II 


546    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

distrust  of  political  action  and  the  ingrained  prejudices  and 
feelings  of  the  typical  unionist  will  finally  yield  under  the 
pressure  of  the  opponents  of  organized  labor. 

The  policy  of  the  National  Civic  Federation  is  to  encourage 
and  continue  the  old  Une  business  unionism  and  to  dis- 
courage poUtical  activity  on  the  part  of  organized  labor. 
Consciously  or  unconsciously  this  organization  is  trying  to  stem 
the  tide  which  is  setting  in  toward  the  new  unionism  which 
minimizes  trade  demarcations,  which  looks  toward  pohtical 
activity,  and  which  manifests  marked  sociaHstic  proclivities. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  policy  of  the  employers'  associations 
which  are  openly  hostile  to  labor  are  driving  labor  to  adopt 
more  and  more  radical  methods  of  procedure.  The  reaction- 
ary employers'  associations  are  destroying  trade  unionism  of 
the  bargaining  type  and  are  building  up  a  soUd  group  of  class- 
conscious  industrial  unionists  who  believe  in  the  general 
strike,  who  refuse  to  make  wage  contracts,  who  are  not 
interested  in  the  closed  shop,  who  believe  in  political  activ- 
ity, and  who  are  ready  to  adopt  many  of  the  policies  of  the 
socialist. 

\  If  it  is  desirable  that  a  class-conscious  and  united  army  of 
wage  earners  be  developed,  then  the  bitterest  opponents  of 
organized  labor  are  its  friends  in  disguise.  Some  of  the  evi- 
dences of  class  consciousness  are  the  sympathetic  strike  and 
the  wide-spread  boycott,  the  financial  assistance  frequently 
given  by  unions  of  other  trades  to  strikers,  the  assistance, 
financial  and  otherwise,  given  Moyer,  Haywood,  and  Petti- 
bone,  the  general  acceptance  by  the  workingmen  of  the  opin- 
ion that  a  wage  earner  must  ever  remain  a  wage  earner,  and 
the  increasing  bitterness  in  the  tone  of  the  labor  press.  The 
Moyer,  Haywood,  and  Pettibone  trial,  the  contempt  of  court 
proceedings  against  Gompers,  Mitchell,  and  Morrison,  the 
invectives  of  the  leaders  of  anti-union  employers'  associa- 
tions, the  use  of  the  injunction  in  the   coal   miners'  strike 


RECENT  TENDENCIES 


547 


in  1919,  and  the  familiar  and  determined  attempts  of  cer- 
tain large  corporations  to  introduce  or  to  maintain  the  open 
shop,  have  done  much  to  draw  the  ranks  of  organized  labor 
together.  Greater  political  activity  on  the  part  of  organized 
labor  may  be  anticipated  in  the  near  future.  In  1920,  a  vigor- 
ous endeavor  was  made  to  organize  a  national  labor  party. 

Outside  the  ranks  of  the  Socialist  Party,  labor  in  the  United 
States  has  three  distinct  political  programs,  (i)  The  Ameri- 
can Federation  of  Labor  leaders  continued  to  adhere  to  the 
old  non-partisan  plan  of  1906.  This  plan  called  upon  organ- 
ized labor  to  disregard  party  lines  and  to  vote  for  "  the  friends" 
and  against  '^the  enemies"  of  labor  on  the  old  party  tickets. 
Organized  labor  was  to  be  partisan  to  a  principle  but  not  to  a 
party.  The  success  of  this  program  in  the  past  is  not  evident 
to  the  student  of  the  labor  movement  nor  to  many  within  the 
ranks  of  organized  labor.  During  the  War,  the  American 
Federation  doubtless  acquired  much  political  strength  and 
prestige.  Mr.  Gompers  and  other  labor  leaders  did  magnifi- 
cent work  in  steadying  the  forces  of  labor  during  that  period 
of  national  stress.  Conservative  labor  leaders  were  given 
places  on  the  numerous  boards  which  appeared  like  mush- 
rooms. But  following  the  armistice  came  a  period  which  was 
very  galling  to  the  pride  of  labor  leaders.  The  administration 
did  not  grant  the  requests  of  railway  workers  for  increased 
wages,  and  the  injunction  was  used  by  it  in  the  coal  strike. 
Organized  labor  suddenly  reached  the  conclusion  that  its 
policies  were  no  longer  looked  upon  with  favor  by  Congress 
and  by  the  Executive,  —  in  short,  its  friends  were  not  in 
office.  The  leaders  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor 
demanded  in  1920  united  support  for  their  policy  in  order  to 
put  the  friends  of  labor  into  positions  of  political  power. 
It  was  vigorously  asserted  that  the  organization  of  a  separate 
labor  party  would  be  **  disastrous  to  the  wage  earners  of  our 
country  and  to  the  interests  of  all  forward-looking  people." 


lYi 


-i 


"  t 


548    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

This  program  does  not  call  for  cooperation  with  the  ''  m- 
tellectuals,"  the  farmers,  or  with  any  other  group.  Organ- 
ized labor  is  to  go  alone  as  a  solid  group,  but  without  any 
party  organization. 

(2)  The  second  plan  is  that  of  the  Working  People's  Non- 
partisan League.  The  Minnesota  Federation  of  Labor  was 
sponsor  for  this  movement.  In  1920,  it  was  proposed  to  put 
an  independent  ticket  in  the  field  in  Minnesota  and  popsibly 
in  other  states.  Unlike  the  plan  of  the  American  Federation, 
the  League  sought  coalitions  with  other  groups,  aimed  to 
build  up  a  political  organization,  and  to  elect  the  candidates 
of  the  League.  Specifically,  it  hoped  to  unite  with  the 
Farmers'  Nonpartisan  League. 

(3)  The  third  program  involved  the  organization  of  a 
National  Labor  Party.  In  19 18  and  1919,  several  local  and 
state  labor  parties  were  organized.  In  November,  1919, 
a  national  party  was  launched.  The  strongholds  of  the 
labor  party  movement  are  in  the  Middle  West.  The  State 
Federations  of  Labor  of  at  least  three  states  have  declared 
for  the  party  policy  and  against  the  non-partisan  program 
of  Mr.  Gompers.  The  coal  miners,  smarting  under  the  in- 
juncUon  of  1919,  are  favorable  to  the  party  program.  The 
mission  of  the  new  party  as  stated  in  the  resolutions  adopted 
at  the  Chicago  convention  of  November,  19 19,  is  as  follows: 
—  "  The  Labor  party  was  organized  to  assemble  into  a  new 
majority  the  men  and  women  who  work  but  who  have  been 
scattered  as  helpless  minorities  in  the  old  parties  under  the 
leadership  of  the  confidence  men  of  big  business."  Among 
the  planks  of  the  platform  are:  — the  nationalization  of 
"all  basic  industries  which  require  large-scale  production 
and  are  in  reality  upon  a  non-competitive  basis";  govern- 
ment management  of  the  banking  business;  better  credit 
facilities  for  farmers;  a  comfort  wage;  free  speech  and 
assembly;    the  curtailment  of  abolition  of  the  right  of   the 


RECENT  TENDENCIES 


549 


courts  to  declare  laws  unconstitutional.  The  more  radical 
and  insurgent  elements  within  the  American  Federation  are 
being  attracted  by  the  party  movement.  In  spite  of  the 
opposition  of  Mr.  Gompers  and  other  conservative  labor 
leaders,  the  labor  party  movement  bids  fair  to  persist  (June, 
1920).  If  a  labor  party  is  to  become  a  powerful  factor  in  the 
near  future,  it  must  be  able  to  obtain  the  united  support  of 
wage  earners,  and  also  to  appeal  to  brain  workers  and  pro- 
fessional men,  and  to  the  farmers.  Unless  it  can  accomplish 
this  difficult  task,  it  will  remain  an  insignificant  third  party 
in  a  two-party  system. 

Socialistic  Tendencies.  The  growth  of  class  consciousness  s/ 
and  the  resort  to  political  action  are  indicative  of  socialistic 
proclivities  on  the  part  of  members  of  labor  organizations. 
For  years  socialists  have  constituted  an  important  and 
energetic  minority  in  many  unions.  Socialist  delegates  have 
repeatedly  tried,  but  without  success,  to  commit  the  American 
Federation  to  the  policy  of  collective  ownership  of  the  means 
of  production.  In  the  1900  meeting,  a  resolution  was  intro- 
duced recommending  that  unionists  carefully  study  the 
growth  of  trusts  and  monopolies  "with  a  view  to  nationaliz- 
ing the  same."  This  resolution  was  adopted,  but  not  until 
the  clause  committing  the  Federation  to  collective  ownership 
was  eliminated.  Various  resolutions  have,  however,  been 
passed  by  state  federations  of  labor,  by  city  central  labor 
unions,  and  by  nearly  a  score  of  national  and  international 
unions,  endorsing  collective  ownership  and  operation  of  the 
means  of  production.  For  example,  the  United  Mine  Work- 
ers, "in  the  light  of  the  industrial  depression  that  has  haunted 
America  for  more  than  a  year,"  declared  in  its  annual  con- 
vention in  favor  of  collective  ownership  and  operation  of  the 
means  of  production  and  exchange,  so  "that  every  man  or 
woman  willing  and  able  to  work  can  have  free  access  to  the 
means  of  life  and  get  the  full  social  value  of  what  they  pro- 


I*  ■ 


fi 


i 


550    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

duce."  The  organized  brewery  workers  are  quite  definitely 
committed  to  the  principles  of  socialism.  ''The  officers  of 
the  organization  never  fail  to  impress  the  members  with  the 
fact  that  it  was  their  duty  to  join  the  Sociahst  movement,  to 
vote  the  Socialist  ticket,  and  to  learn  to  understand  Social- 
ism." ^  The  International  Union  of  Mill,  Mine,  and  Smelter 
Workers  is  strongly  impregnated  with  socialism. 

The  phrases  of  the  socialists  are  frequently  upon  the  b'ps 
of  the  union  man.  A  resolution  of  the  United  Mine  Workers 
speaks  of  the  "predatory  rich"  who  ''are  co-existent  with 
the  countless  thousands"  in  poverty.  The  International 
Union  of  United  Brewery  Workmen  in  their  declaration  of 
principles  use  these  words:  "The  few  hundred  owners  take 
for  themselves  the  larger  part  of  the  wealth  produced  by 
the  workingmen."  The  Iron  Molders  assert  in  the  preamble 
of  their  constitution  that  "under  the  present  social  system 
there  is  a  general  tendency  to  deny  the  producer  the  full 
reward  of  his  industry  and  skill."  The  Industrial  Workers  of 
the  World  in  the  first  sentence  of  the  preamble  of  their  con- 
stitution declare:  "The  working  class  and  the  employing 
class  have  nothing  in  common."  In  the  preamble  to  the 
constitution  of  the  Amalgamated  Clothing  Workers  is  found 
this  phrase:  "Every  oppressed  class  in  history  achieved  its 
emancipation  only  upon  its  attaining  economic  supremacy." 
The  unionist  and  the  socialist  are  both  convinced  that  the 
wage  earner  does  not  receive  his  proper  share  of  the  results  of 
his  toil.  The  socialist  is  more  radical  than  the  unionist;  but 
many  of  the  latter  are  following  in  the  footsteps  of  the  former. 

The  Socialist  Party  was  split  in  191 7  on  the  question  of 
our  participation  in  the  War.  The  pro-War  members  left 
the  party.  In  September,  19 19,  the  party  was  again  divided; 
and  two  new  revolutionary  parties  were  formed.     One  group 

*  Schluter,  The  Brewing  I  fid  us  try  and  the  Brewery  Workers'  Movement  in 
America^  p.  248. 


RECENT  TENDENCIES 


551 


retained  the  old  party  name;  it  is  composed  of  the  somewhat 
conservative   radicals   who   believe   in   bringing   about   the 
overthrow  of  capitalism  by  political  and  evolutionary  means. 
The  other  two  groups  took  the  names,  Communist  Labor 
Party  and  Communist  Party;  these  are  more  radical.     Both 
lay  little  stress  upon  political  action.     The  members  of  the 
two  groups  demand  revolutionary  activities  in  order  to  bring 
about  the  downfall  of  the  capitalist  system.    The  revolu- 
tionists are  quite  willing  to  take  Russian  Bolshevism  as  a 
guide.    The  Communist  Party  is  composed  largely  of  foreign- 
speaking   groups   among   which   are   many   Russians.     The 
Communist  Labor  Party  is  dominated  by  American  radicals. 
The  differences  between  these  two  new  parties  of  the 
extreme  Left  are  not  fundamental.     It  is  quite  probable  that 
the  Conmiunist  Labor  Party  will  soon  disappear.    One  por- 
tion may  be  expected  to  go  back  into  the  socialist  fold  and 
the  other  to  unite  with  the  Communist  Party.     According 
to  one  estimate,  the  membership  of  the  Communist  Labor 
Party  is  10,000,  and  of  the  Communist  Party,  60,000.     An- 
other estimate  places  the  membership  of  each  party  at  30,000. 
The  Bolshevists  have  in  the  United  States,   therefore,  a 
party    membership    of    60,000    to    70,000.     The    Industrial 
Workers  of  the  World  with  a  shifting  membership  may  also 
be  counted  as  a  Bolshevist  element.    Perhaps   100,000  to 
150,000  men  and  women  in  the  United  States  may  be  counted 
as  advocates  of  Bolshevism.^    But  there  are  doubtless  many 
more  discontented  workers,  smarting  under  real  or  fancied 
grievances,  who  are  in  the  mood  to  be  easily  reached  by  the 
propagandist  who  confidently  offers  an  immediate,  though 
vague,  Utopia.     The  American  Sociahst  Party  in  1920  was 
a  middle-of-the-road  radical  party  .^ 

1  For  accounts  of  the  Communist  and  Communist  Labor  Parties,  see  Watkins, 
Atlantic  Monthly,  December,  1919;  and  Chenery,  The  Survey,  January  31,  1920. 

2  See  article  by  the  writer  in  The  Bay  View  Magazine,  May,  1920. 


M 


i: 


V.i 


552    HISfORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

Other  Tendencies.    The  American  Federation  of  Labor  and 
/    many  of  the  old-line  national  unions,  such  as  the  railway 
brotherhoods,    tend   to   become   big   institutional   machines 
directed  by  officials  out  of  touch  with  the  rank  and  file.     In 
times  of  stress,  insurgent  movements  are  almost  certain  to 
appear.     Radical   and    discontented    members   break   away 
and  form  new  ''dual"  unions  or  become  ''outlaws"  or  in- 
surgents while  retaining  nominal  membership.    The  years 
19 1 9  and  1920  have  witnessed  movements  of  this  sort.     The 
"outlaw"  strikes  in  the  railway  industry  in  the  spring  of 
1920,  the  recalcitrant  attitude  of  certain  groups  of  coal  miners 
in  the  fall  of  1919,  the  strikes  or  "vacations"  in  the  autumn 
of  191 9  on  the  part  of  the  members  of  local  unions  in  the 
printing  industry  in  spite  of  the  opposition  of  the  national 
organization,  and  the  development  of  a  labor  party  in  the 
face  of  the  disapproval  of  the  American  Federation  officials, 
are  tokens  of  a  rising  wave  of  insurgency  in  labor  circles 
against  the  "regulars"  in  control.     A  representative  of  the 
local  trade  unions  of  Passaic,  New  Jersey,  voiced  the  follow- 
ing sentiment  in  a  speech  before  the  City  Council:  —  "I  tell 
you,   gentlemen,   you   are   treading  on   dangerous  grounds. 
Samuel  Gompers,  that  good  old  man,  has  headed  the  Ameri- 
can Federation  of  Labor  for  thirty-two  years.     He  has  held 
labor  in  check,  and  has  held  it  well.  .  .  .  However,  the  time 
is  coming  when  he  cannot  hold  it.    Labor  will  show  its 
teeth,  and  butt."     The  shop  steward's  movement  in  England 
is  indicative  of  growing  dissatisfaction  with  the  officers  of 
the  old-line  English  trade  unions.    Insurgency  in  American 
unions  may  be  interpreted  as  an  attempt  to  give  the  im- 
petuous rank  and  file  harassed  by  the  high  cost  of  living  and 
impatient  of  the  slow  gains  of  business  unionism,  a  more 
direct  and  more  potent  voice  in  the  management  and  in  the 
determination  of  the  policies  of  labor  organizations. 
The  recently  proposed  amalgamation  of  the  Amalgamated 


RECENT  TENDENCIES 


553 


Clothing  Workers  and  the  Amalgamated  Textile  Workers, 
two  unions  outside  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor; 
the  plan  favored  in  1920  by  the  International  Ladies  Gar- 
ment Workers'  Union  of  forming  an  alliance  of  all  unions 
of  men's  and  women's  garment  and  cloth  headgear  workers,  — 
an  alliance  of  the  needle  trades;  and  the  temporary  united 
efforts  of  twenty-four  organizations  in  the  steel  strike  of 
1919  clearly  point  toward  a  growing  unity  of  action  among 
allied  trades.  Another  tendency,  which  the  rising  cost  of 
living  has  greatly  accelerated,  is  found  in  the  organization 
of  municipal  employees,  "white  collar"  workers,  and  pro- 
fessional workers.  Among  the  new  organizations  many  of 
which  are  affiliated  with  the  American  Federation  of  Labor, 
are:  — The  American  Federation  of  Teachers,  including 
certain  locals  composed  of  university  teachers;  the  Inter- 
national Association  of  Fire  Fighters;  the  National  Federation 
of  State,  County  and  City  Employees;  the  Library  Employees' 
Union  of  New  York;  organizations  of  school  custodians  and 
janitors;  a  union  of  draftsmen;  and  others  of  a  similar  type.^ 
Organized  labor  in  the  United  States  may  be  expected  to 
experience  significant  changes  in  program,  methods  and 
membership  in  the  near  future. 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

Hoxie,  "President  Gompers  and  the  Labor  Vote,"  Journal  of  Political 
Economy.    Vol.  16:  693-700. 

Kennedy,  "Socialistic  Tendencies  in  American  Trade-Unions,"  Jour- 
nal of  Political  Economy.    Vol.  1 5 :  470-488. 

Walling,  "The  New  Unionism,"  Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of 
Political  and  Social  Science.    Vol.  24 :  296-3 1 5. 

King,  Industry  and  Humanity.     Ch.  11. 

Hoxie,  Trade  Unionism  in  the  United  States. 

Hunter,  Labor  in  Politics. 

»  Janes,  Quarterly  Journal  of  the  University  of  North  Dakota,  January,  1919. 


554    HISTORY  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

Carlton,  Organized  Labor  in  American  History.     Chs.  8,  lo,  and  ii. 

The  American  Labor  Year  Book,  1919-1920.     Pt.  6. 

Wright,  "The  Contest  in  Congress  between  Organized  Labor  and 
Organized  Business,"  Quarterly  Journal  0/  Economics.  Vol.  19:  235-261, 
February,  191 5, 


INDEX 


Agreements,  trade,  271,  280,300,310, 
316 

in  the  clothing  industry,  308 

in  the  coal  mining  industry,  303 

in  printing  trades,  307 

in  the  stove  industry,  304 
American  Association  for  Labor  Legis- 
lation; see  Labor  Legislation 
American  Federation  of  Labor,  75 
Anthracite  coal  strike,  199 
Anthracite  Coal  Strike  Commission, 

288 
Apprentices,  limitation  of,  156,  159 

training  of,  524 
Apprenticeship,  length  of,  158 

systems  of,  526 
Arbitration,  advantages  and  defects 
of,  294 

definitions  of,  280 

in  Australasia,  compulsory,  325 

in  New  Zealand  and  Australia, 
320 

in  the  U.  S.,  281 
Arthur,  P.  M.,  116,  122 
AustraUa,  arbitration  in,  320,  325 

old-age  i>ensions  in,  379 

Barbers'  International  Union,  119 
Bargaining,  collective,  128,  256 
Benefit    features   of   labor    organiza- 
tions, 162 

probable  growth  of,  165' 

value  of,  164 
Blacklist,  194 

legality  of,  195 
Bolshevism,  11,  85,  86,  89,  90,  268 
Bonus,  220 
Boycott,  180 

attitude  of  courts  toward,  182 

legal  status  of,  186,  191 

the  trade,  189 
Brewery  Workers,  United,  119 
Buck    Stove    and    Range    Company 

case,  187,  191 
Building  and  loan  associations,  238 
Building  trades,  117 


Canadian  industrial  disputes  act,  316 

importance  of,  319 
Child  Labor  Committee,  National,  468 
Child  labor,  effects  of,  456,  468 

eariy  history  of,  450 

national  regulation  of,  464 

statistics  of,  455 

Child   labor   legislation   in   England, 

341,  457 
in  the  U.  S.,  343,  459 

opposition  to,  473 

recommended,  464 
Children's  Bureau,  467 
Chinese  coolies,  420 
Chinese  exclusion  act,  421 
Cigar  Makers'  International  Union, 
114 

benefit  features  of,  163 
Cities,  growth  of,  29,  402 
City  central  labor  unions,  78 
Civic  Federation,  The  National,  97, 98 
Class  consciousness  before  the  Civil 
War,  39 

Civil  War  period,  64 
Clayton  Anti-trust  Act,  190 
Cleveland  farm  colony,  498 
Closed-shop  poUcy,  134 

in  England,  137 

arguments  in  favor  of,  138 
Clothing  Workers,  Amalgamated,  76, 

121,  203,  309 
Collective  bargaining,  128 

effects,  130 
Combination  acts,  342 
Committee,  shop,  271,  272 

Browning  Company  plan,  313 

Colorado  Industrial  plan,  361 

Goodyear  plan,  302 

White  Motor  Company  plan,  304 
Commons,  John  R.,  32,  99,  183,  256, 

303 
Compensation  acts,  workingmen  s;  see 

Workingmen 

Conciliation,  advantages  and  defects 

of,  294 

definitions  of,  280 


555 


5S6 


ill 


J! 
ri.  ! 


^if 


•J 


;    '4 


1   ,i 


INDEX 


Conciliation,  in  the  U.  S.,  281 
Conference,  National  Industrial,  292, 

Consolidation,  industrial,  55 
Consumers'  League,  National,  443 
Convict  labor;  see  Prison  Labor 
Cooperation,  229 

Cooperation  in  England,  consumers', 
230 

in  U.  S.,  consumers',  232 

not  successful,  consumers',  234 
Cooperation,  credit,  236 

distributors',  235 

fundamental  principles,  235 

importance  of,  242 
Cooperation,  producers',  239 

weakness  of  producers',  241 
Corruption,  political,  441 
Court  decisions,  trend  of,  335,  338, 
^       .  350,  356 
Creative  impulse,  '169,  273 
Cripple  Creek  strike,  199 

Day,  eight-hour,  149 

arguments  in  favor  of,  152 
Debt,  imprisonment  for,  46 
Democracy,    evolution    of    industrial 

and  political,  11,  272,  536 
Disputes  act,  the  Canadian  industrial, 

316 

importance  of  the   Canadian  in- 
dustrial, 319 
jurisdiction,  124,  125 
Domestic  service,  492 

Educational  ideals,  conflict  m  regard 

to,  533 
Eight-hour  day,  149 
Employers'  associations,  92 

before  Civil  War,  36 

Civil  War  period,  64,  67 

liability,  360 
Employment,  the  right  to,  519 

bureaus,  445,  515 

manager,  518 
Engineering,  efficiency;  see  Scientific 

management 
England,  child  labor  legislation,  341, 
457 

old-age  pensions,  328 

Factories,  cotton,  23,  27 

woolen,  24,  27 
Federation  of  Labor,  American,  75, 
"5,  163,  547 


Federation,  The  National  Civic,  97, 
98 

Godwin,  Parke,  45 

Gompers,  Samuel,  108,  122,  191 

Government,  evolution  of  political,  1 10 

trade-union,  no 
Great  Lakes  dispute,  190 
Greeley,  Horace,  45 

Halsey's  plan  of  wage  payment,  218 
Hatters'  case,  Danbury,  162 
Hawaii,  labor  conditions  in,  421 
Hayward,  W.  D.,  89 
Hours  of  labor,  149 
Humanitarianism,  43 

Immigration,    advantages    and    dis- 
advantages of,  423 
attitude    toward,    during    Civil 

War,  398 
causes  of,  390 

changes  in  character  of,  393 
dangers  of  Oriental,  420 
economic  effect  of,  399 
effect  of  changes  in  the  character 

of,  395 
effect    upon    the    standard    of 

hving,  407 
history  of,  387 
legislation,  418 
opposition  to,  421 

before  the  Civil  War,  495 
policy  of  the  socialists,  417 
political  effect  of,  411 
restriction  of,  410 
statistics  of,  388 
stimulation  of,  392 
Immigrant,  Americanization  of   the, 
414 

economic  value  of,  406 

needed?  399 
Immigrants  collect  in  cities,  402 

distribution  of,  403 
Imprisonment  for  debt,  46 
Incentives,  99,  260,  261,  263,  264,  269, 
271 

Incorporation  of  labor  organizations, 
161 

Individualism,  eighteenth-century, 

330,  33^ 
Industrial  Conference  Board,  96,  97 
Industrial  progress,  recent,  69 

Relations   Commission,  87,  183, 

26s,  289,  310 


INDEX 


557 


Industrial  union,  definition,  104 

unionism,  542 

Workers    of     the     World;      see 
Workers    of    the    World,    In- 
dustrial 
Injunction,  189,  190 

importance  of,  182 
Instincts,  human,  90,  261-4,  268.  269 
Insurance,  health,  373 

old-age,  376,  380 

unemployment,  520 
Iron  manufacture,  25 

Japan,  immigration  from,  422 
Jurisdictional  disputes,  124,  125 

Kansas  Compulsory  Arbitration  Act, 

286 
Knights  of  Labor,  72,  80 
St.  Crispin,  65 

Label,  union,  196 

importance  of  union,  197 
Labor  Legislation,  American  Associa- 
tion for,  374,  384 
Labor  L^slation  and  the  Constitu- 
tion, 329,  343,  348 
and  the  police  power,  337,  348, 

391 

chief  forms  of,  344,  348,  349 

efficiency  of,  345 

history  of,  340 

present  status  of,  355,  356,  358 
Labor  organizations,  classification  of, 
103 

government  and  structure  of,  109 

incorporation  of,  161 

leadership  in,  122 

political  activities  of,  7,  542 
Labor  union,  definition  of,  103 
Laissez  faire  philosophy,  276,  331, 332, 
341,342 

inadequacy  of  the,  277 
Land  monop)oly,  41 
Land  reform,  49 
Leaders,  labor,  122 
Legislation,  labor;  see  Labor  Legisla- 
tion 

in  regard  to  sweat-shops,  433 
Liability,  employers',  360 

doctrine  of,  362 

evils  of  the  system,  365 
Liberty,  views  of,  333 
Linotype,  introduction  of,  127 
Lockouts;  see  Strikes 


Locomotive  Engineers,   Brotherhood 

of,»  116 
Lump-of-work  argument,  144 

Machinery,  attitude  toward,  126 
introduction  of  new,  250 

Management,  scientific,  247,  248-252, 
254,  257-259,  270 

Manufacture,  stages  of,  26 

Manufacturers,  National  Association 
of,  95,  96 

Massachusetts,  old-age  annuity  sys- 
tem of,  383 

McKees  Rocks  strike,  175,  191 

Mediation    Commission,   President's, 
290 

Membership  of  unions,  admission  to, 
123 

Mill,  J.  S.,  251 

Mine  Workers,  United,  115  y' 

Miners,  Western  Federation  o£<^o 

Minimum  wage  protects  skilled  men, 

objections  to,  132 
laws;  see  Wage  laws 

National    Association    of    Manufac- 
turers, 95,  96 
National  Child  Labor  Committee,  468 

Labor  Union,  60 

Trades'  Union,  37 

Women's  Trade  Union  League,  91 
Nations  of  Antwerp,  242 

Opposition  to  labor  organizations,  98, 

99,  542 
Output,  restriction  of,  140 

Parker,  Prof.  C.  H.,  263 
Party,  labor,  545,  548 

labor  reform,  62 

workingmen's,  33 
Pauperism,  45 
Pension    system    of    Typographical 

Union,  383 
Pensions,  old-age,  376,  380,  382 

in  Massachusetts,  383 
Picketing,  185 
Piece  wage,  215 
Pittsburgh  Survey,  482 
Policies  of  trade  unions,  109 
Political  activities  of  labor  organiza- 
tions, 542 
Premium  plan  of  wage  payments,  216, 
257,  271 


558 


INDEX 


INDEX 


559 


y^ 


h^ 


i 


\  ii^^ 


Press,  early  labor,  39 
Prices,  1834-1837,  34,  35 

1860-1866,  56,  57 
Prison  labor,  peculiarities  of,  499 

systems  of,  495 
Product  sharing,  221 
Profit  sharing,  220 

advantages  of,  223 

importance  of,  227 

methods  of,  222 

objections  to,  224 
Progressive  wage,  216 
Promotion  as  a  sedative,  99 
Prosperity  during  the  Civil  War,  53 
Psychology  of  unionists,  107 

Race  prejudice,  409 
Railway  Labor  Board,  283,  284 
Reconstruction,  268 
Restriction  of  output,  140 

lump-of-work  argument,  144 

health  argument,  147 

protection-of-industry  argument, 

148 
Revolutions,  industrial,  2 
Revolutions,  second  American  indus- 
trial, 52 
Rockefeller,  J.  D.,  Jr.,  315 
Routine  in  industry,  267,  270 
Rowan's  plan  of  wage  payment,  219 

School,  paying  children  to  go  to,  475 
Schools,  correspondence,  531 

demand  for  free,  47 

manual  training,  531 

night,  531 

public,  267 

trade,  526,  530 
Scientific   management;   see  manage- 
ment 
Servants,  indentured,  13,  18,  19 
Shoemakers,  organized,  66 
Shop  committee;  see  Committee 
Shop  policy,  the  closed,  134,  138 
Sickness,  insurance  against,  373 
Silvis,  W.  H.,  63,  65 
Slavery,  20,  260 
Sliding  scale,  220 
Socialist  party,  policy  of,  550 

in  regard  to  immigrants,  417 
Socialistic  tendencies   in   labor  orga- 
nizations, 549 
State  federations  of  labor,  78 
Steward's  theory  of  wages,  63 


Strike,  anthracite  coal,  199 

bituminous  coal,  206,  289 

Colorado  coal,  203 

Cripple  Creek,  199 

garment  workers',  202 

Great  Lakes,  200 

Ludlow,  202 

McKees  Rocks,  201 

Seattle  and  Winnipeg,  204 

shirt-waist,  201 

steel,  205 
Strike  breakers,  98 

hatred  of,  175 

violence,  173 
Strikes,  attitude  of  courts  toward,  17, 
182 

causes  of,  171 

commercialized,  179 

early,  169 

losses  due  to,  176 

new  aspects  of,  177 

statistics  of,  170 

tendencies  in  regard  to,  172 

typical,  198 
Supreme   Court   decisions,   192,  350, 

SS^y  356,  357,  358     ,.  , 
Sweated    industries,    remedial   meas- 
ures, 435 

wages  in,  431 
Sweating  in  the  clothing  industry,  429 

factories,  446 
Sweat-shop  legislation,  433 
Sweat-shops,  classes  of,  427 

insanitary  conditions  in,  432 
SyndicaUsm,  85,  86,  89,  268 

Taflf  Vale  decision,  161 

Task  wage,  215 

Taylor,  F.  W.,  217,  248,  249,  252,  253, 

25s 
Teachers'  Federation,  92 
Time  wage,  214 

Trade  agreements;   sec  Agreements 
Trade  schools,  526,  527,  530 
Trade  union,  definition  of,  103 
Typographical  Union,   International, 

71,  112,  116 
pension  system  of,  383 

Unemployment,  causes  of,  503 
definition  of,  502 
efifect  of  use  of  machinery  upon, 

503 
insurance,  520 


Unemployment,   remedial   measures, 

510 
statistics  of,  507 

Unfair  list,  179 

legality  of,  185 
Union  label,  196 
Unionism,  industrial  and  trade,  542 

modem,  4  ,        .  ,       ^ 

significance  of  industrial,  330 
Unions,  early  American,  17 
Civil  War,  58,  65 
pre-CivilWar,  31,35,  37 
why  weak?  42 

Viewpoints   of    employer    and    em- 
ployee, 7 
Violence,  strike,  173 

Wage,  a  fair,  209 

boards  in  Australia,  324,  437 

boards  in  England,  436 

dismissal,  521 

laws,  minimum,  436,  437,  44^ 

payments,  systems  of,  213 

piece,  215 

progressive,  216 

task,  215 

time,  214 
Wages,  1860-1866,  56 

in  colonial  America,  15 

in  sweated  industries,  43 1 

limitation  of,  5 

of  women,  480,  483 

real,  6 
affected  by  political  action,  7 
War  Labor  Board,  National,  273,  291 


War,  World,  248,  273 

Welfare  work,  228,  258 

White  Ust,  195 

WilUams,  J.  E.,  265 

Wolf,  R.  B.,  270  ,     ^.  .,  „, 

Woman  labor  before  the  Civil  War, 

478 
problems  connected  with,  490 
Women,  education  of,  491 
in  domestic  service,  492 
workers  are  not  easily  organized, 
487 
Women  workers  during  the  Great  War, 

481,  482 
Women  workers,  effect  of  low  wages, 
paid  to,  484 
laws  protecting,  349 
reasons  for  low  wages  paid  to, 

Women's  trade  unions,  91 

Workers'      International     Industnal 

Union,  83  . 

Workers  of  the  Worid,  The  Industnal, 

76,  264,  265,  268,  550 
Workers,  laws  protecting  female,  349 

male,  353,  355 
Workingmen's     compensation    acts, 

366,  367,  370 
in  Europe,  366 
Workingmen's  compensation  system, 
advantages  of,  368 
constitutional?  369 
weakness  of,  373 
Workman,  model,  253 
Workmanship,  instinct  of,  265,  270, 
273 


n 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 

This  book  is  due  on  the  date  indicated  below,  or  at  the 
expiration  of  a  definite  period  after  the  date  of  borrowing,  as 
provided  by  the  library  rules  or  by  special  arrangement  with 
the  Librarian  in  charge. 


^SiilffllM  LIBRARIES  I 

0044257635       ^ 


vgmA 


DATE   BORROWED 


JHQV. 


DATE   DUE 


taCTJ  5  '57 


2  &'57 


n 


iKr?tMt 


T^^* 


^ts^ 


V** 


C28(955)100MEE 


DATE   BORROWED 


JSRT— 1*^ 


MSTET  I 


TEBUT9V4 


DATE   DUE 


D267 

C19 

c.l 


BOUND*     '■■ 
JUL  2  0  1956 


END  OF 
TITLE 


